[cbaleanu]

I really don't see the point that many HN users keep comparing apples with oranges. iOS and Android have no relevance in this discussion as they are not real OS'es. You cannot develop on them, you cannot do work on them except for replying emails and browsing some webpages. And that's how it will remain.

OSX is great, but please post the link from Apple store where you can get a decent working laptop for under $500. Good luck with that.

From a developer's perspective, I think we should keep a more clearheaded approach to this entire debate and not turn HN into a fanboy forum.

[takluyver]

> iOS and Android have no relevance in this discussion as they are not real OS'es... And that's how it will remain.

This sounds seriously shortsighted. So far, Android and iOS are focused on media consumption, but I'm already starting to see them used for 'work', like taking notes in meetings. Asus' transformer line (tablets with a keyboard dock) shows where the next step might be.

There's no rule that 'real work' requires a WIMP (windows, icons, menus, pointer) interface. It's perfectly possible to imagine that in a few years it will be possible to develop on Android devices with some peripherals attached. There's no fundamental obstacle to it.

I don't think the PC is dead - there's still a lot of software and user experience built up around it. But it's quite clear by now that tablets/phones are becoming serious competition.

[kstrauser]

> iOS and Android have no relevance in this discussion as they are not real OS'es.

"Mavicas and Digital Elphs have no relevance in this discussion as they are not real cameras. You cannot expose film with them, you cannot do work on them except for taking candid pictures and sharing them with friends. And that's how it will remain."

It is always dangerous to assume that you're in the market you think you're in, and not the market that your customers are telling you that you're in. Microsoft seems to believe that they're in the "real computer OS" market, but their customers believe they're in the "lets me run my apps" market. And to those customers - whose vote ultimately matters the most - Windows is competing directly with OS X, iOS, and Android as a way for people to run the software they want to run. Increasingly, that software is the kind of stuff that runs on the tablet or smartphone that they're doing most of their computing on.

[icebraining]

You cannot develop on them, you cannot do work on them except for replying emails and browsing some webpages.

So? All the employees in our client companies do their work exclusively through email and internal webapps (which are hosted and developed on Linux). And that's true for a whole lot of companies.

I don't see why wouldn't an "Android workstation" - or Chrome OS, or similar - work for them.

[fpgeek]

You can't develop on them?

Try this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aide.ui

with a Transformer or another Android tablet with a Bluetooth (or in some cases USB) keyboard.

[cbaleanu]

If you are going to be carrying around an external keyboard / dock to make your tablet behave like a laptop why not go for the real thing?