And I agree with that, I'm not a fan of all of Apple's policies, but I admire their adherence to build quality and user experience. And I like to fiddle with things when I work (I'm taking a bachelor's degree in software engineering), but when I'm away from work, I don't want to fiddle. I want my things to delight me when I use them, I want my experience of interacting with the hardware to be the best it can. That's where post-PC comes in, and that's why I want a WP7 phone.

NO. One of things that apple does well is to have these devices all sync together, and their connectivity between devices is better than everyone else. They are a little annoying with stuff like HDMI, but they are getting better

@ rainbird, I agree, they do make good devices, but I am actually not a big fan of their user interfaces, I find iOS in particular to be a little frustrating

As for fiddling, I can understand your concerns, but from my point of view Android is best, especially with its deep integration with google, as I use most google apps anyway, so it is the natural choice for (plus I can buy half Sony phones!)

When I read the article, that's the impression I got. If Ubuntu did become more user friendly then it would still be "PC" rather than "post-PC" wouldn't it?

From my understanding, it's not just better user interface, but about offering form and gimmicks over freedom and function. Creating simple solutions but taking away customisability and allowing Apple (or whoever) to have control and essentially define the user experience. From what I read it was just a "dumbing down" of PC.

Other:

1) I use the keyboard a lot, a virtual one that "steals" screen space is not good for me

2) Can it run PC games with decent performances?

3) Price

4) iPad, a solution looking for problems? If I got a phone and a notebook or a netbook, do I need it too?

5) Too big for the pockets, too little as notebook

6) Unification of file formats, protocols and standards is a good thing, if they are open, but user interfaces, that instead can be closed without threatening freedom, if closedness doesn't extend where it shouldn't, are about personal tastes, Apple ones are generally very good, but not necessarily the best for everybody

I really haven't experienced much of it, but I can't see myself liking it for desktops/laptops. Seeing as I feel completely irritated whenever I have to use MS Explorer and WMP instead of DirectoryOpus and Zoom Player, and generally I like to have my PC behave the way I want it to. Also, maybe because I don't game on it, I haven't really experienced any hardware difficulties in the past 2-3 years. Both Windows (XP, 7) and Ubuntu pretty much discover and operate everything reasonably well, and then there is some very custom stuff like my Logitech G15 keyboard, which needs its drivers and apps for the extra stuff it does, but I'll take that rather than having a standard keyboard out of the box (which is the starting position before installing the extra things anyway.

My PC is pretty feeble by now, horsepower isn't really its thing at all. It feels pretty good to use though, and everything I've customized or replaced makes it easier and/or faster for me, and delights me much more than the default.

So-so about phones and consoles. I really mostly use them for phone calls and gaming respectively. I still like mods though, when they give some nice extra options.

I don't see myself making scripts and programs in these "post-pc", I'd still need a powerful PC (don't want to wait hours for a result). And for anyone making the OS for these "post-pc" devices would still need a PC. The PC is not goint anywhere, just the avarage consumer wont have a need for it anymore. A screen to read, point and write a few emails is enough for these people. But there are other consumers who need the standard inputs, that's why they appear from time to time next to tablets.

Post PC world can kiss me in my ass ;)

Wake me up when i can put Oracle /Eclipse/Visual studio on those devices ;)

Just after reading this thread, I came across this, a natural user interface from Microsoft Research.

Looks cool :)

A term coined and fronted by Apple can't be good for the market or me as a consumer. I don't want silly tablets and cheap plastic sold at ludicrous prices, I want customization, open markets, diversity, quality and the choice of whether or not I want a lot of horsepower. These decisions should be up to the consumer and not the manufacturer. Apple are essentially trying to conform the market in their image and I do not approve.

Why is everyone acting like this is going to take away your freedom? 

1) Yes, Apple are the ones who coined the term, but that doesn't mean anything that is post-PC has to be locked down like the iOS devices. 

2) It's not about getting rid of the PC, it's about moving to the next state in user/hardware interaction, hence the "post". It's a design paradigm, it means you're focusing on designing your software to delight people by making it a great experience to use. Windows 8 could be post-PC, even if it's running on a everyday PC hardware. 

It's not about locking down the hardware, it's not about stopping you from programming whatever you want (and running it), it's not about halting progress and it's not about stopping you from tinkering with what is yours. It's about putting the user first and it's about a level of user interaction where the specifics of the hardware are irrelevant.

@RolStoppable

It absolutely works and for the reasons I just outlined above. Gaming is moving in the post-PC direction because motion controls are ushering in a new era where user interaction is the name of the game. And gaming is just one area of computation now moving in this direction, hence why it's a thread for discussing the broad sense of the term and not just "motion control vs. analogue sticks" or whatever.