Does a netbook running an Atom processor and Windows count as a PC?
Yes -- the processor means nothing for the purposes of deciding whether a device is a PC or not.
Does a netbook running an Atom processor and Linux count as a PC?
Yes -- the brand of OS also means nothing in this discussion.
What about a netbook running an Atom processor and ChromeOS? Starting to get shaky a little, but sure, I bet the market will count these.
No, and it's shaky at all. ChromeOS is not an operating system in the traditional sense that lets users install any application they want, play any media they want, get direct access to the hardware, etc. It's a stripped-down OS; a thin internet client that will run some apps but is not a general-purpose OS.
Now what about a netbook running an ARM processor and ChromeOS? Yes?
Still no, see above about processors.
Well, then why not count the iPad, that also runs an ARM processor and a specialized OS. No? Then why did the one with an Atom count?
It didn't.
Your argument doesn't follow because it relies on the assumption that ChromeOS is also a general-purpose operating system. It's not. If I were king of the world, I wouldn't count any ChromeOS or WebOS device in the computer sales metrics. They're entirely different animals -- computers only in the same way my smartphone is a computer.
This is where it starts to get confusing. Does a generic general purpose CPU, bundled with an OS capable of browsing the web count as a PC? Or does it have to be an x86 processor? If it's x86 only, when did that become the requirement? PowerPC machines with MacOS used to count as PCs. Or is it the physical keyboard that is the defining PC feature? Does a touchscreen somehow invalidate it being a PC, even though PCs have offered touchscreens as an interface since the 80s?
Can I build and install any application I want to on this generic OS, getting direct hardware access, having rights to play whatever media I want on it? If so, I think it's a PC, regardless of what processor it has, whether it has a touchscreen, etc.
Counting the iPad as a PC turns into a murky argument either way, and in either case really doesn't change much. At the end of the day, Apple is selling a ton of them, and making a nice bit of profit from their sales. And due to this success, a number of developers have their own success selling software for the iPad platform. PC or not, it's doing well.
Agreed. So there's no need for anyone to artificially inflate Apple's brisk sales of PCs with bogus arguments.
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