Is There Still Hope Left in the Future of the PC?

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
To those thinking that PC's are dying, you've earned yourself a knuckle sandwich. Granted, they may phase out to consumers possibly, but they will still be used without a doubt in the business environment, and lets face it, there are just a TON of games better played without a touchscreen.

Also, I hate touchscreen keyboards, its unfamiliar to me, not to mention those buttons/icons can be small (and I'm not that big to begin with), and trust me, I am pretty sure we get a lot more done typing with both hands than using just one to press one key at a time.
 
The PC market will be re purposed. Now that most users can have the power of a supercomputer under the desk is going to change the playing field. Does everyone need that power ? No. Not everyone is creating content (3d animation, highly polished videos complete with effects and multiple resolution, 20+ tracks of audio with as many VSTs or plugins you can through at it... Multiple compiles of the next greatest program/game) and depending on how paranoid one is about putting personal information/media on the cloud ... This is where I think the re purpose of PCs will begin. They will become more Personal Servers. Personal Transcode ones personal movie/audio collection to multiple devices. Those with the knowledge to build such devices will and those that don't or won't will continue to ride the wave of cutting edge, obsolescence, disposal and ( hopefully ) the recycling of such devices when their usefulness is depleted.

I still build my own workstation. I transcode my own material I prefer to be self sufficient in that matter. This is not for everyone and that is what I feel is defining the market.
 
The PC industry is now like the Automotive Industry. In all developed countries, almost every household owns 1 or 2 computers. People don't buy new computers every year just like people don't all buy a new car every year.
Comparing PC sales to 'post PC devices" like the iPad and Android tablets isn't a fair comparison to say their draining the PC market share.

Tablets are a entirely new market and I'm positive people will always have both some form of a tablet to compliment a PC.
 
[citation][nom]cyprod[/nom]what's up with all the click-bate articles from wolfgang? No, apple isn't invincible. No, the PC isn't going anywhere. Seriously, how much apple stock does this guy own?[/citation]

At least Wolfgang's dependable. You can always rely on him to write articles of no value.
 
PC's, as you call them... windows boxes... are purely for entertainment, development and content creation with few exceptions. Tablets, like you stated are for consumption and/or gaming/entertainment. The real question here is, who is going to take over the development and creation market? Screw tablets and PC's. There will always need to be a "workstation"... always. Whether it be a Windows Box or a Mac (eh ehm, they are both considered personal computers, tablets much more so)... Who will win? Mac or Windows? Both companies will need to satisfy user demands and needs or you can kiss the tablet market goodbye. This kind of goes hand in hand with piracy. You steal my games, music and movies... and I won't make anymore. You take away personal computing and you take away all that has ever been needed to make tablets worth a damn thing.
 
[citation][nom]koga73[/nom]you cant do with a tablet what you can with a pc... and until that day comes I cant say the pc will ever become extinct.[/citation]

Even that prediction isn't entirely correct. By the time a future tablet can do what today's PC can do, the future PC will be far superior. It isn't a question of technology, it's a question of physical space. A desktop will always have the capacity for greater speeds than smaller devices.
 
Noone seems to mention CLOUD COMPUTING, which could even possibly (worse case scenario ?) UNITE ALL DEVICES under STREAMED Programs and games!!!

Why hasn't anyone think of that yet?
THE SANDY BRIDGE has happened because of that! The Fusion is because of that...


We won't be needing (the pc users) any heavy graphic card if we play high definition gaming...in our tablets...with Cloud Computing...or in our mobiles...or in our palmtop...or in our laptops...or hell...even in tv!

Imagine a world where you can play in your cheap pc HD gaming from consoles...

Noone has thought of that? i dont think so..the big heads have...we are going to be like cattles... paying subscriptions FOR EVERYTHING just in order to play Doom 5 or WoW 3...but..on ANY DEVICE !
 
What PC gaming needs is for people to code to take full advantage of what the hardware is capable of and not just porting console games over.
 
I feel as if a Tablet can not replace the Personal Computer. Even to people who are not as tech-literate as others, and do not care about what kind of processor, the amount of ram etc., they will find that a tablet can not outperform a personal computer, and it is for this reason. I read in one of these comments that is a fad, and that is exactly what i believe it to be. For something to replace the computer, we need something that can be able to perform all the tasks that a PC can do, and do more.
 
typo "Apple is embraces it every day and..."

Anyway, I have a laptop, a desktop, and had an iPad (I won it). The iPad I just gave to my 5yo niece cos it's useless for everything except casual gaming - and casual games are so 80s (the vast majority of these titles are just 8 bit Apple II or C64 games with better graphics). Try playing a FPS on an iPad - the UI is completely hopeless, even worse than a console controller. If you think the future of gaming is Angry Birds or Solitaire stick with your iPad - it does those real good.
I challenge anyone to write a novel, code an app, page layout, etc on a tablet and have a good experience doing it. Basically they do NOTHING as well as a PC can - except casual gaming of course.
 
yes yes yes we heard it all before, the end of history, blah blah blah, the end of books, blah blah blah, the end of PCs, blah blah blah......

you can never have too much processing power.
 
[citation][nom]alchemy69[/nom]What PC gaming needs is for people to code to take full advantage of what the hardware is capable of and not just porting console games over.[/citation]

Totally agree. Tired of being neglected thanks to consoles. We need more games like Crysis to take gaming to the next level.
 
Good god, did Steve jobs write this article? Do your self a favor and pull your bottom lip over your head and swallow. :)
 
Lol the desktop pc in one form or another is here to stay at least for the next 20-30 years minimum. This is probably the lamest speculation article I have seen on the subject in a long long time. Computer gaming magazines (such as Computer Games) did similar articles back when the PS 2 was released stating it was the sign of the times for pc gaming because consoles were so powerful now and easy to use blah blah blah. Same old stupid bullshit speculation, except now we swap game systems for tablets etc.

Pc technology sales will rise and fall. People en masse are not just going to keep buying new computers every 6 months to 1 year. A lot of people are still using their older Core2Duo and Quads and Phenom X4 setups from 3 years ago and simply dont need another setup or OS yet. These are the same types that used their single core Athlon XP Compaqs and Pentium 4 Gateway towers for 3-6 years or more also. They wont upgrade until they absolutely feel the need to, or until their tower dies. The Windows market would look stronger had Vista not been released, but as is, Microsoft is having to deal with the fallout from that.

Even with all of that going on you still have tons of people buying pcs for the first time, or giving their systems to their kids and buying new ones. That in itself makes up a nice chunk of the market for desktops and laptops. In addition to all of that, you still have the custom builders out there buying hardware, and vendors selling custom builds, so that should be taken into account. You dont exactly hear about Asus, Biostar, ECS, MSI, etc stating they are hurting bad right now ehh? The Pc market may not be in 100 percent excellent shape right now, but its in no way bad off either, not at all. Its doing fine, and its going no where any time soon.

 
Every time I read an article by Gruener I know it will be something praising Apple and almighty Jobs and bemoaning the rest of the industry. It's so predictable, it's not even funny anymore. Take the first paragraph as an example; he's criticizing Google and Android for being exactly what people (except iDrones) want - an alternative to a closed/controlled environment. For the author, Google will only be successful if it applies the Apple model, otherwise it's "shooting itself in the foot".
I, for one, am grateful that Google is NOT Apple, nor is imitating Apple's model.
 
I would argue the opposite. Consoles have undoubtedly become more similar and mimicking to PCs. From their online gaming structure, to their general style at times.

Compare the NES to the PC and you'll see a gigantic difference. Compared the PC to the Xbox 360 now, and you can in fact game with each other now...correct?


Since becoming involved in PC games, I cannot go back. It's like have the sweet, premium taste of cocaine in your mouth, then being dropped back to laundry detergent. It's a major downgrade - or feels like it.


Overall, the consoles are using more PC hardware and developing similar interfaces and interactions that are more "PC like".



PC isn't going anywhere. Especially to people who do rendering and editing.
 
[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]The PC will just evolve as I upgrade every 2 years and about to do another and spend $1500 doing so. When the PC is fully interactive/immersive much like the movie Minority Report with that display I will buy one but not until its matured. Meanwhile Im just fine with my 2560 x 1600 ips panel, gtx 580 3GB, 16 gb ddr3, i7 sandy at 4.2 ghz gaming and multitasking machine thanks.[/citation]
Only 4.2Ghz?


 
How about every house or a building would come with an integrated multi-CPU and storage device as part the electrical system. Every room would have a connection for peripherals (monitor, keyb, mouse), or something like a wireless USB... It will also contain connection like VPN, so that it can act as your personal cloud when you're away from home. House cloud would be connected to a backup cloud offered by different companies, in case the house burns down :-( This would be my favourite PC r/evolution. If you install quad-SLI, it will also act as the house heater...
 
I'm a amateur programmer, and you'll never tell me that a touchscreen will do for programming. A laptop with its junk keyboard will never do either. And a touch screen will never be any good for working with my Linux server either, let alone the web programming. I've also done a bit of graphical work, and you'll never get that without a mouse and keyboard really, although you may manage some with a touchscreen – but then the device won't ever be powerful enough to handle it.

So who thinks desktop computers will die? Only people that don't consider that tablets (and even laptops) depend on desktops to get their content (who wants to compile an OS on a laptop at half (or less) of the speed you can do it on a desktop???).
 
Tablets came to stay forever because they excel at consuming media of almost any kind like no other personal device can do it yet. Obviously, not for producing heavy work.

In the not to distant future you will carry a chassis the size you need and you will add modular parts and I don't care how that system will be called. You will have the possibility to add more CPUs, memory or graphic power. Just change or add the modular parts to configure the system you need at any moment. Need a powerful desktop, use the right chassis and add all you can afford. Need to go, don't worry, take with you what you can from your desktop modules. They will be modules and you will use them any way you want or need.

For a tablet it will be a very light chassis and it may include the screen, but I see no reason not to add the screen as another module. But also consider the next time a tablet concept will shrink it has no reason not to include a thin physical keyboard, so my prediction in that direction is tablets and laptops will merge, again.

But on the other hand there is nothing more powerful to produce heavy work than being seated in the right position in front of a screen big enough, or even more than one screen and ergonomic input devices.

The desktop of the future may not need to open and make all the internal connections but it will still be a chassis to support certain amount of modules and cool them down on heavy work. The motherboard may become another module.

So, to me it is not about the size of the computer, but about the position to work with it and about the possibility to keep it powerful enough for very heavy computation and also light enough for portability. And that is a versatile but compact modular system.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom