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

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I think that it is very premature to declare Apple as the future of computing. Microsoft still has not released its Windows 8 platform or any real response to iPad mania and even though Android might not have hit the mark, the Android camp will most probably learn from its mistakes and regroup.

In the long run, Apple's long time law of making both Hardware and Software themselves will most definitely result in their loss of market share as it is neither logical, nor sustainable. And also they are hardly in a position to cover all the market as they do not engage in manufacturing low cost items simply because it goes against their reputation and lower their lucrative profits that has kept their partners happy till now.
 
I still don't see what the big deal is with tablets. My smartphone can do everything a tablet can do and it fits in to my pocket, so I have no problem taking it everywhere I go. A tablet is just the right size that it is to big to fit in a pocket, and to small to justify a backpack, So it ends up taking up an arm, I might as well be caring a laptop.
 
Why would the PC die? Just because the retail market is not selling as many as compared to other smaller devices, it does not mean the vendors are not doing well. No one is counting the endless list of individual hardware components that do not go into retail PCs. And that is where the big money is. An enthusiast video card at $900 can cost as much as a whole PC. Does anyone account for that income? Such products are mostly used in PCs all over the world. So, enough with the "the PC is dieing" stories... it only gets better, and guess what... we like it!!
 
I think Microsoft have learned the value of integrating more different types of devices into the Windows eco system, if i had say a phoone or a pad where i could run the same programs and share the same datas as on as my PC even if they were slower i would get them and thats where i think MS is heading and that will boost both PC and gadgets sales.

If Intel manage to get the x86 architecture into the power budget of say a phoone i predict that both Microsoft and Intel will remain the dominant part for atleast another decade.

Wolfgang will still come with his articles spelling doom to the PC and praise his favourite brand like he always has, much like the prophets of religions trying to draw attention to their believes true or not - Its nothing new!
 
Computers won't die, ever. Console may be there for decades but none of them could efficiently read DVDs, or connect to networks to send a file on your network's cellphone or whatever technology. And the majority of games being on one or two console but not the other is not making these winners. One had blue ray while the other a simple DVD that could be upgraded to a dead HD-DVD... or had the capability to use a keyboard and mice but was removed to prevent piracy.... comon this is a joke computers won't die ever.

The only console that COULD stay there forever would be like that:

- strongest GPU ever, one that 20 years later a computer couldn't be on par, not one that computer have already surpassed before it could actually be manufactured.
- strongest CPU ever and being the same from Sony to Microsoft or Nintendo. Currently it is much more complicated to code a game for PlayStation than any other so much more game makers make games for the others console first then just port it to the PlayStation. There are exceptions and those are negligible enough to not get on a real computer ^^
- not 2 or 4 gamepads on it, but a minimum of 8 wired gamepads is a minimum, plus the wireless ones.
- gadgets that just work with one console, and that you have to buy the same gadget made for the other console is just a total suicide. It has to be the same gadget with the same connectors for every console. That is impossible since it won't be Nintendo or Sony that would make money with their gadgets but other companies like MadCats. Don't forget that Sony had been forced to sell their console underpriced and the only way they had to make money was with games and gadgets...
- Customized consoles cause everyone having the same ugly console won't make people buy it to put in the livingroom. Instead they would put it in the wardrobe as any other Apple gear so that people don't see they all have the same shit. People don't wanna buy a Volkwagen Golf that everyone has, but a ferrari that has only 5000 cars made.
- Lotta more games, cause games like Mario, sports game or stupid ones like asteroid won't ever make their way to the computer, meaning this is poo rather than THE game.
- It has to play DVD, BluRay, music CD/DVD/BluRay, Image CD/DVD/BluRay, can play AVI/MPG/XVID/FLV videos, can play OGG/MP3/AAC/WAV or any other format, has a 20 megapixel cam to make great quality HD movies and pictures, has a great network interface that is so simple to make it connect to every network hardware, being a cellphone, table, computer, Nintendo DS or PSP, being connected via LAN, WI-FI, WI-MAX, Bluetooth, 3G or 4G.
- a powerful battery so that it will be portable for gaming too cause it won't ever kill laptops if it's not
- has KEYBOARD and MICE capability and forever (sony better remember that)!!!
- has upgrade capability if you wanna change say the GPU or CPU cause it burned, or cause a better one is out.
- a BIG HDD, not a 80GB one... a 2TB HDD is MANDATORY !!! with capability to upgrade to a bigger one, even put a few HDD in it not just one.
- Can record TV from any source being satellite, cable, or even coming from computer, cellphone, or another console.
- Has a easy to use interface so it's easy sharing any file over the network, being cellphone, computer, console, tablet or HDD connected to the network.
- Can support every monitor, being VGA, DVI, HDMI/mini-HDMI (whatever revision not just 1.4a) Thunderbolt, Displayport/mini-Display port, USB (yes there are wireless monitors using USB), composite, component, and whatever other tech released.

See like it won't ever happen?? Till then we'll just use consoles to play games and not for chatting, surfing, take photos or videos, burn DVDs to free some space or to backup that TV serie you'll be missing when your at work.

That thread made me laugh, comon just wake up before repeating those lies told by others.
 
Such a console would cost way too much. Let's compare prices:

Playstation3: at least $300
what it can do: not much really, it play playstation 1/3 games and play movies that's it!

laptop: at least $450
what it can do: everything from chatting, to surfing, watching movies, gaming etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
 
Look at the picture of the PC that was used for the article.
It's as out dated as can be.Why not show a modern set up?
Agenda anyone?I thought so.
 
Hey, hey, HEY! Don't you guys understand what's going on?

It's called BRAINWASHING!

Didn't you notice the same thing with "the cloud"? Nobody gave a $h!t about it, and then the media started droning "cloud computing, cloud computing, cloud computing..." and now a lot of people are convinced that it really IS the future (like the media said) without even knowing pros and cons... or what cloud computing is!

Same thing is happening here. It is much more profitable to sell consoles, tablets and netbooks, where you can't upgrade and you just need to buy a whole new device, which is great fo them. So now media will keep droning that "PC is dead" until people believe it. Already now many people are convinced that everything can be done on tablets/netbooks, well, they're wrong. Desktops will always be around for many reasons: PC gaming, nVidia/Intel/AMD not willing to lose their primary market, enthusiasts, workstations... consoles and tablets won't replace it. Just remember: there's always a supply as long as there's a demand. Let's keep building PCs, no matter what media says.

I observed that scenario happening with "green food", "cloud computing" (still in progress) and many other things. For a few years, media keeps BS'ing people and feeding them lies. After the brainwashing is completed, you can start reaping rewards: sell the same vegetables with a sticker "Non genetically modified" for double the price, convince people to put their data "on the cloud" instead of their hard drives and do other senseless BS. In this case, they're trying to convince us to abandon PC. Now, ask yourself, do we need to do that? Will tablets and consoles replace a desktop for us? Of course, they might be a valuable addition to our electronics, providing us with entertainment on the go (if you'd rather waste your time on Angry Birds than enjoy your trip) and allowing us to play games in a different way than on the PC (if you want it). But replace the desktop?

When hell freezes.

Though, observing the majority of the replies here, I can tell that people are just as upset with these ridiculous "PC is dead" claims as I am. Keep on building, keep on upgrading, keep on OC'ing, keep on gaming, keep on causing the PCs to improve!

nVidia promised photo-realistic real-time rendering in a few years. For that, new CPUs and GPUs must be released, and they WILL be released in a few years and they will be affordable. Still think we have nowhere to go with the PC? The only thing that saddens me is that I'll have to upgrade... AGAIN... but it's such a small price for having a powerful device that is controlled by you, and not by the fashion trend...
 
And honestly, why does this article say that iPad is a step in the evolution of the PC?! It can be classified as a computer, but it isn't even close to a desktop and it's stupid to involve it in a PC discussion. PC doesn't need to become "exciting", that's tablets and smartphones. PC is there to serve a user's needs. It can be exciting, if you're an enthusiast, but it is not meant to be a shiny toy like tablets, which so many people bought because of visual appeal, fashion and because it's so "exciting". It's meant to do whatever you want it to do, be it gaming, office, video editing or serving as a home theatre.

There's gonna be absolutely NOTHING that'll SUDDENLY make the PC "exciting" and make people stand in lines for it, like they do with the iPad. Want to make your PC "exciting"? Get an expensive, great-looking case, add volume and temperature control panels to the front of the cabinet, install LED fans and a huge screen or multiple screens and a great sound system, install an app on your phone that lets you to control all this stuff remotely. How more exciting can an electronic device get? And guess what, it can be all done today, now!

Oh, sorry, I forgot... PCs aren't "magical" and "new". They're "old" and "boring". They don't have any fashion value, they're just there to do stuff for you. I guess that makes them useless no matter how good they are, right? /sarcasm
 
First of all, an amazing article; got something to read this good after a log while.

And what I was thinking while reading: "and I thought the PC gaming industry was dying." 😀
 
[citation][nom]theoldgrumpybear[/nom]Fun to see peeps here talk about desktops in the enterprise. The near future of the enterprise should (can't use will since I do not control the future) go virtual. Clients being renderers of the OS run on servers (yes a new version of client server but so is the "cloud" actually). The desktops have no HD's no USB slots to infect the network etc. Where ever you log on you get your desktop, yada yada yada. You either have seen it and get it or have not seen it and should. 🙂[/citation]

You mean go back to the stoneage model of server->terminal era with a tad more powerful terminals more close to clients? Its pretty much what the cloud idea is to me.. not evolutionary in any way!
 
[citation][nom]davewolfgang[/nom]1980's - The desktop PC is dead because the dumb client/server architecture. 1990's - The desktop PC is dead because laptops.2000's - The desktop PC is dead because tables are the new "thing".2010's - The desktop PC is dead because.......??!???!??!?!?!!??......2280's - The desktop PC is dead because......???[/citation]
Epic, just epic.
+10000000000000000000000
 
The personal computer will exist in approximately its current configuration, until the invention of cerebral implants that project images directly into our occipital cortex, keep us constantly "online" through thought, and allow us to game, work etc by using nothing but cognition and our cranial nerves to interface with it.

End of discussion.
 
[citation][nom]theoldgrumpybear[/nom]Fun to see peeps here talk about desktops in the enterprise. The near future of the enterprise should (can't use will since I do not control the future) go virtual. Clients being renderers of the OS run on servers (yes a new version of client server but so is the "cloud" actually). The desktops have no HD's no USB slots to infect the network etc. Where ever you log on you get your desktop, yada yada yada. You either have seen it and get it or have not seen it and should. 🙂[/citation]

I feel the same way. It seems we've come full circle but I definitely see thin clients as being the future of enterprise IT for most companies. The bandwidth, latency, and compression techniques for video are greatly improving.

It'll definitely take a while because the cost to implement is still equal or higher than traditional desktops. But the savings in administrative overhead should be good. Maybe not so good for the average desktop technician since less of that position will be needed. The push for green computing will also help virtual desktops take off. The same way that server virtualization is becoming the norm, I think desktop virtualization will become the norm.

Clearly for certain industries virtualization will not be an option. CAD, graphics, and video will still rely on real hardware. And of course I doubt you'll see the hardcore gaming being done virtually. But I do envision casual gaming streaming from the cloud.
 
Don't the other Tom's Editors freak out when Wolfgang writes like this?

Angelini: Save us from Apple worshiping! We want facts, not...you know...this stuff...
 
The content of this article belongs on Wolfgang Gruener's personal blog, Not Toms Hardware!

" What about the idea of a platform that is so simple to use that people can build and customize their applications to fit their individual needs? If there is one company we believe can answer those questions, it is Apple."

What the hell are you talking about man!!!!

Drink the Apple Koolaid Much!
 
I think analysts misunderstand the market hype Apple uses. They say they plan on shipping 50 million iPads this year. Assuming that that's mostly in the US and that they have already sold millions of them, that means that about 1 in every 6 people in the US will have an iPad? No. The fact that they are SHIPPING 50 million iPads does not mean that they will sell 50 million iPads... it means that they are going to sit on shelves slowly being sold (or not), or used as replacements for broken ones, or sit and rot (I wish), etc.

As for the death of the PC, I'm embarrassed I read the whole article (if you can call it that) as I found no compelling arguments to support the title, and it seems Wolfgang realized this too midway through writing it.
 
Seriously, isn't a tablet a PC? It just happens to be portable. As this article points out, PC needs to reinvented, the only problem with that idea is...it already has. It's called a tablet, with choices of OSes period. The question should be is the Desktop PC dead, not are PC dead cause the PC is simply evolving, just what the doctor ordered. I don't buy this PC is dead when I feel the Tablet is an evolution step of the Desktop PC and Laptop PC just much more portable and it uses a different interface...your finger. I remember using a touch screen years ago at a computer show, Apple just happen finally to make it usable. As for the question posed on this article "Does anyone care what processor and how much memory is in an iPad?" Short answer is "Yes". That's why two of my friends purchased a Xoom instead of an iPad and a third friend waited for the iPad2. Personally, I'm waiting for the bugs to iron out and for a kick a$$ CPU/GPU combination. Please don't say Windows makes a desktop a PC because what would I call my desktop PC? Since I'm running it with Ubuntu. Sorry but the article, like many others in the WWW, is simply out of date, missing whatever information is already in front of their faces. Tablets are simply Portable PC and best of all their OS "Finally" is evolving to other choices. I personally can't wait to see how ARM & X86 evolve to meet the future challenges posse to them. Also, how will games evolve on Tablets? Will they pose a threat to Consoles? I personally would choose a Tablet, which I can connect to my TV. Give me choices, I'll chose the right combination of CPU/GPU (cause I do care what in it) and play my games. We all know how stagnant Consoles can be, doesn't a portable Tablet sound way better than a console? You'll have choices, many choices between brand, CPU architecture, GPUs, OS, etc. One present issue is Batteries which are truly what's holding up advancement on this Ultra Portable PC segment. If it makes anyone feel better let's just call Tables UPPC (Ultra Portable Personal Computers) now don't you feel better?
 
I will always have a PC. Laptops/tablets/consoles are of no interest to me. PC's are still (imho) the ultimate machine for gaming and always will be. I might buy a laptop/tablet as an "Accessory" but not as a standalone device, i will always be using my PC as my main machine.
 
Tablets are gaining functionality and becoming more PC like all the time. I see no reason why a tablet of 2025 couldn't have the exact same capabilities as a desktop PC. And thanks to recent tech breakthroughs such as magnetic processors, the exact same horsepower.
 
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