Robert Pogson

The pace of the evolution of technology in IT keeps accelerating. The first notebook PCs I saw had lead-acid batteries, were thick and heavy and cost a premium over desktop PCs. It took more than a decade for notebooks to slim down and get close to being portable. It was a bit of a surprise when they began to exceed unit sales of desktop PCs. The first tablet PCs were rather clumsy too, but in the last couple of years ARM and improvements in touch-screen technology has made the grade.

In 2012, “It is estimated that as many as 20-30 million low-end tablets will be sold in the third quarter alone”

That puts the tablet as the new standard device for computing, at least for the mobile consumer of content, which is just about everyone. Between the smart phone and the tablet many people have everything covered and the old desktop and notebook technology is not really necessary.

see Digitimes – Tablet PCs expected to surpass notebook sales in 3Q12.

Hmmm… Where are those that continue to claim a tablet or other small cheap computer is not really a PC?

Expect unit sales of x86/amd64 PCs to remain flat or even decline soon. I would not bet on “8″ or “ultrabook” or any other campaign of Wintel to roll back the tide.

Check out Walmart.com. Look for

• “linux” in Books – 104 results (YAY!)
• “ubuntu” in Books – 25 results (YAY!)
• “linux” in Computers – 2 results , online only pickup in stores a few days after ordering (BOOO!)
• “ubuntu” in Computers – 0 results (BOOO!)

What’s wrong with this picture? There’s obviously a great interest in GNU/Linux in Walmart’s customers. Several books about GNU/Linux are on the first page of the “best-sellers” list under Books/Computers/Operating Systems. Why don’t they sell more than a couple of models of GNU/Linux PCs (ones with a popular distro at least)?

What’s wrong is a distortion of the market. Even M$’s COO came from Walmart. Walmart is not officially a “partner” of M$ but they might as well be for the choices on their shelves. Only in small cheap computers do they offer choice of OS, the two mini-PCs mentioned above and a huge variety of tablets and smart phones running Android/Linux or iOS. Walmart in Brazil offers dozens of GNU/Linux PCs. Walmart in USA could as well if they weren’t loyal sycophants of M$. Remember the netbook? Walmart was part of the clamour about “our customers didn’t like it” even while GNU/Linux netbooks were flying off the shelves, selling out globally.

M$ had an organized campaign to exclude GNU/Linux from the netbook market. You can bet they did more than pay Walmart a visit.

No, Walmart could sell GNU/Linux PCs but they won’t. They could order GNU/Linux PCs from any OEM on the planet but they won’t. It’s not about customers or price/performance. It’s about pleasing M$.