back to article Acer founder: 'Tablets, ultrabooks just a fad'

Those tablets and razor-thin "ultrabooks" that are grabbing all the headlines these days are just passing fads, says the founder of PC-maker Acer. According to a report by DigiTimes, Acer's Stan Shih – yes, he of the "Stan Shih Smile Curve" – says that PCs remain the foundation of the IT industry, and that the industry needs …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    And when were Acer ever leaders of anything?

    Would you take any notice of the ramblings of the leader of yet another Asian tech company that merely follows those who actually invent, innovate and move ahead?

    Me neither.

    1. QrazyQat

      doesn't that make him a good person for this since that's how they've made their money

      Wouldn't a company which has made it's money based not on leading edge innovation but instead on being correct about what fads to chase and what to avoid be a reasonably likely source for good guesses on what fads are or are not going to be putting desktops out of business? I see Acer is doing a tablet, it's just that the guy doesn't think it and other tablets are offing PCs.

    2. N13L5
      FAIL

      god help us if Apple's "invent" represents any kind of post PC future...

      Have you not noticed the difference?

      PC's, we own, we can install on them any Operating System we want.

      Tablets and Smartphones are annoyingly totalitarian, its like the jerks who made them continue to own them after we buy them. Add the fact that Apple and M$ prefer to use anything (including the courts) to create monopolies if they can, and its a stinky mess to rival the financial crisis.

      I don't want to spend the future in anyone's walled garden. Especially not the totalitarian garden of the company who once made a George Orwell commercial, that makes them look particularly hypocritical now.

  2. Nader
    WTF?

    Acer needs to get with the program

    I am more than happy to pay more for a sleek, thin 13" SSD-driven laptop with a high-resolution screen (like the 1440x900 matte screen on the new 13" Macbook Air), that will keep running for over 4 hours, compared to a bulky, ugly 14-16" with a reflective "HD" resolution (1366x768) screen, standard hard drive which slows everything down, and battery time of upto 2 hours. Not to mention the heat and fan noise due to the extra graphics card, which you really don't need anyways, because gaming with an Acer will melt the whole thing within a few months.

    1. Danny 14
      Go

      sure

      maybe you are as a consumer. But that isnt where the big bucks are. Convincing the HSBCs, Walmarts, Petrochemical companies etc that THEY need this technology is where it is at. Just look at where Dell major revenue lies - it certainly isnt in the trendy XPS ranges, it is in the optiplex and latitudes.

  3. JDX Gold badge
    Meh

    Confused - what's an ultrabook?

    Is it a regular PC running a regular OS, just really small? i.e. a Windows Air?

    1. ZankerH

      yes

      yes

  4. Tom Wood

    He probably has a point

    The form factor of PCs has changed very little since the 80s.

    For doing any sort of actual work you're generally tied to a desk anyway, and at the very least want a real keyboard (which, let's not forget, was modelled on a typewriter, and seems to have stuck in more or less the same format ever since). Good ergonomics dictates that if you're going to be working at any sort of computer for any length of time you want a screen up in front of you and the keys down in front.

    Tablets, big phones, netbooks, and whatever else is the currently fashionable variant have all found new niches for themselves (using on the train/in the pub/on the toilet/whatever), and I'm sure there's likely to be an increase in PC-type functionality built into set-top/set-back boxes/smart TVs/games consoles etc but that doesn't mean any fewer of us are likely to be sitting down at a desk to do our real work at any point in the near future.

    1. SuccessCase

      Nope - he's just plain wrong

      For years Apple has sold more laptops than desktops. Given the choice punters are voting for a mobile world. Now the MacBook air is positioned, price wise, cheaper than the MacBook Pro and hardware is so far ahead of software the performance advantage of the Pro means less to the punter than the convenience and style of the MacBook Air (I know, I'm a power user who just traded his magnetic media MacBook Pro for the new MacBook Air - in every way, the Air, with it's slower processor feels faster - not just a little bit faster; much faster and more than that, finally I no longer see where I can benefit from greater speed than it provides except perhaps at the very margins of my work).

      For those who haven't tried them yet, SSD driven machines with slower processors feel far, far more performant than Magnetic Disk driven machines with blazingly fast processors. Result is the ultra-book format, with SSD only and no optical drive and generally smaller screen, won't only be preferred but will be cheaper than larger laptops with faster processors. The growth of the online App-Store and fast broadband means there is much reduced need for the optical disk. A USB stick can be used instead if a battery draining moving disk.

      And don't shoot me for pointing out what is currently an Apple only advantage, gesture based interaction on a large muti-touch touchpad (together with blazing fast smooth application switching which is available now of course, to all SSD machines) really does make living with a smaller screen far less of a constraint. And in any case, Apple way apart, there's always the option to get an independent monitor. plus it's only a matter of time before the multi-touch mode of interaction is adopted by all OS's because it is just feels so right.

      Really the current trend to a more expensive machines has less to do with the ultra-book format and everything to do with use and cost of SSD's. Use an SSD based machine though and there's no going back. So all other things being equal ultra-books are the preferred format and cheaper and the only thing keeping the non ultra book format alive is the low cost of two aged and now nearly redundant technologies - magnetic HDD's and Optical. Further the cost of SSD's will over time come down below that of magnetic drives. Worse than being merely wrong this Acer guy is wrong on every count. Indeed for the position he has, he is amazingly and stupidly, wrong.

      1. N13L5
        Pint

        punters...

        Punters buying tablets is the equivalent of drug addicts buying crack pipes, they have to; they must feed their addiction.

        Buy a Tablet, so you don't have to deal with yourself or your surroundings, even when out and about; there's always some little App diversion in your tablet.

        So you get to smoke your crack and think you're looking smart doing it..

        (trust me, people with those on buses and trains look retarded)

        Wonder how long that hype and illusion will last. I think in 2-3 years, we'll be buried under a pile of tablets that end up nailed to the wall as picture frames or audio players.

        Then there'll be the next hype: augmented reality sun glasses, with a virtual 60" heads up display and a computer+phone in your pocket the size of a box of matches powering them. Even better crackpipe and probably more useful...

  5. Gerard Krupa

    If there's one company....

    If there's one company that knows how to make things that only last 5 minutes it's Acer. Not for the same reason though.

  6. JMiles
    Meh

    Well duh

    They can't get the price below $1000 to compete with the MacBook Air so the next best plan of attack is to discredit the whole concept.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Re: Well duh

      I'm pretty sure that Acer can get the price low enough - they're making higher-specified laptops well below that - but the point is that since people still remember what a netbook is, despite Microsoft and Intel's attempts at eradicating that segment, $1000 is a lot of money for something that is merely a bit thinner and shinier than the stuff people were buying for $300-$400 before the vendors decided to push tablets in their faces instead.

  7. Mikel

    Whatever happened...

    Whatever happened to those 35 tablets Intel was bragging about back in December? Has anybody seen them? They were supposed to roll out in the first half of this year, which is over.

    http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2010/12/19/atom_plans/

  8. Dick Emery
    Paris Hilton

    Tablet have a long way to go yet

    Tablets need to get a whole lot better. They need to get thinner, lighter, faster, easier to use and have better battery life. I think things will come into their own once OLED type displays start hitting tablets (It's bound to happen given that they are used on some high end smartphones).

    Personally I'd like to see larger and higher resolution displays (I'd love a matt screen OLED version). What they are missing the point with tablets is that they are mainly devices for media consumption. Not for creation as much (arty types may dispute that of course). They are not meant to replace but compliment computer usage.

    Oh and my biggest issue with tablets is finger marks. NEVER touch a tabelt display on demo in the shops. I'd hate to guess how many nasties lurks on those!

    Paris knows about protection.

  9. rav
    Thumb Up

    He might be right.

    The problem with tablets and netbooks is storage. Meaning that there isn't any. The truth of it is we live in a media intensive world and while iPods, iPads, Tablets and other micro-thin notebooks allow us to play that media and games on the run we still need a place to store it. The home PC is still the storage and serious game playing platform.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Might be just a fad, but it seems to fit my usage needs well

    My current laptop is an older Acer (a Travelmate 8371) that I chose just for its ultrabook-like qualities (light weight, rigid body with metal alloy, much-faster-than-Atom CPU, an Intel SSD, good battery life, integrated 3G, under 1000 euro price), and I still find it just a pleasure to use. Could be a bit thinner, could be a bit lighter (although 1.5 kg is quite ok), but it was really good for its price I thought.

    So I am quite surprised at these comments from the Acer founder. At the time (January 2010) it seemed like Acer were really the ones leading the way in this direction - a Macbook Air, or any other ultraportable with an SSD, was something ridiculous like 2500 euros at the time, and selling the right feature subset at a new, lower, price point seemed to be the kind of thing Acer is good at - but it seems either

    1) Acer didn't really understand what they had and had to wait for Apple to show the way and then Intel to spell out what are the important parts of that new laptop category, or

    2) the concept didn't really sell that well without Apple's category-creating ability to make people realize this is what they actually were looking for, and without a good name given for the class (premium netbook, which I seem to recall being used somewhere at the time, is a little bit off the mark here I think) these kinds of laptops get lost in the mass of Windows laptops at around 1000 euro mark.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      OK

      Ok, so they launch a new model that's a bit thinner, and a bit lighter than the one you already have. Will you buy it?

      And will your life be somehow better/easier/more portable/improved?

      Explain how much more so, try to be honest.

      There's your problem.

    2. dylan 4

      fits my usage too

      I just got one of the new Macbook Airs. Half the thickness and weight of my old laptop, nice screen and keyboard, great battery life, and performance-wise it screams.

      I just can't see why one would bother with a 'traditional' laptop form factor given how good 'ultrabooks' can be now. Apart from price and limited capacity of the SSD, it's a no-brainer.

    3. Danny 14
      Go

      indeed

      im using an XPS15 with an SSD. It is a joy to use, decent battery life uses an onboard low power intel card but can switch to GT420M for gaming. Nice quality screen, 3G (using 3). sure it isnt as light as a macbook air but it was also only £600. The only "downside" is that it only has 2 usb (3) sockets which is a shame although I use a "USB port replicator" in the office for my keyboard, mouse (and VGA too).

      thin and light wouldnt be a massive increase for me. Being able to play a few games when im away for a few days at a conference is a godsend.

  11. John Savard

    One Almost Hopes So

    Well, if Apple is buying up all the things needed to make portable computers with these form factors, one would almost hope they're a fad.

    I think it's obvious that people do want a laptop computer to be as portable and convenient as possible, and with as long a battery life as possible. But it also has to have enough power to be useful.

    Think of how powerful computers were that could get useful work done running Windows 3.1, and think of the hardware resources required to run today's versions of Windows. To my way of thinking, this is one obvious roadblock - and Apple, with its own OS, potentially had a way around that. Of course, even netbook computers are running Windows 7 today, and if this form factor becomes important enough to discourage bloat in future versions of Windows, we will all win.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Netbooks and money

      I shelled out £150 for an Acer netbook a few years ago. Ran a nice light version of Linux, Linpus, at a decent speed.

      Since then added more RAM, upgraded the wireless card, installed XP and *allegedly* may or may not have installed OSX86 for research purposes.

      It still gets used as a living room / travel machine.

      This is what is required, a low-mid spec machine that is cheap, and can run a fully functional but light operating system.

      Instead we get bloated machines with bloated hardware in a tiny form factor but with a huge price tag.

      I fear I will never see the likes of the £150 machine again.

  12. hitmouse
    Mushroom

    Acer thinks customer service is a fad too

    That's why it doesn't offer any,

  13. Jim 59

    Agree with Acer

    Steve Jobs says "We're living in a post-PC world.". Not until voice recognition becomes an everyday practicality. To illustrate the point, proceed as follows:

    1. Get a tablet.

    2. Try to do something with it. Try to sell a car, book a holiday, pay a bill, comment in a forum.

    See? Tablet = a PC with no input = lame.

    1. DaveyP
      Stop

      Calling that out...

      Nah - way of the mark there, my friend. You may not like the input method (and I'd agree the virtual keyboard isn't perfect, although with practice it's not bad at all), but the pointing aspect of the GUI is so much better than either mouse or trackpad. For most users, that's very important. My wife, since I bought a tablet, hasn't even looked at the old laptop. She's not interested. Everything she needs a computer to be, the tablet is.

      Also - IMO, most failures of the tablet to interface properly with the web site in question is down to compatibility testing not being up to speed with iOS, Gingerbread, etc...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Proper usage

      I agree wholeheartedly.

      I can't justify a tablet, but when I have proper jobs to do, which recently have included some of your examples:

      - Selling a car, descriptions, looking up similar model pricing, uploading pictures

      - Booking holidays, hotels, flights

      - Paying bills

      I even skip the netbook and go straight for the proper PC in the study, as proper jobs need a proper tool!

    3. beemergeek

      iPad2?

      That's funny, as the iPad2 can do everything you're talking about:

      1. Get a tablet

      - Done

      2. Do something with it:

      A Sell a Car

      - Done. I can take a picture with the built-in camera on the iPad2, and post the resulting picture to Craigslist, adding the description via the on-screen keyboard.

      B. Book a Holiday

      - Done. I booked my holiday to Indianapolis to the MotoGP races on my IPad 1 some months ago.

      C. Pay a bill.

      - Done. I shop on Amazon and other sites regularly with my iPad. I can type just fine on the on-screen keyboard, but if I *needed* a keyboard, I can attach a bluetooth keyboard for heavy typing.

      I think you've never used an iPad, or if you did, you called it a 'fondleslab' in an Apple store and quit using it 30 seconds later. You should work with the product a bit more before you complaint about it.

    4. foxyshadis

      That's a solved problem

      Most tablets now have an attachable keyboard option, some even come with usb ports for your own keyboards & mice, particularly wireless ones. What's not as easy to solve is making them easy to hold for long periods of time without forcing people to adjust to the same compromises as using a laptop comfortably.

  14. b166er
    Joke

    And you sir are....

    a proper tool!

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