Michael Dell: We're Not a PC Company Anymore

[maqsabre]

[citation][nom]wesleywatson[/nom]Obviously the response on this site is going to be biased, because we're power users who build our own desktops. But most people are not buying desktops anymore, they're buying laptops and even tablets. This is pretty obvious if you look at any sales data, commercials, or real life people. It seems like people are getting all uppity at the mention of the 'post-pc' era, as if they're going to have their desktops forcibly taken from them. Desktops simply aren't hot anymore and aren't selling like they used to. People are focusing on mobility, that's where all the money to be made is.[/citation]
those people are dumb who consider desktops as inferior

 

[leo2kp]

I think that when it gets to the point where laptops or other mobile PCs can do life-like 3D rendering, tower gaming PCs will be replaced. There will be a time where we will no longer need graphics hardware to run faster than it already does, but manufacturing processes will continue to shrink, thus eliminating the need for large cases and beefy power supplies. I can imagine that time emerging in the next 5-10 years. Same with storage capacity and storage reliability. Once SSD (or any other fast storage technology) start to catch up to mechanical HDDs in capacity, who will really need more than one or two of those runing in tandem? Home file servers full of mechanical HDDs will disappear in favor of ultra reliable, fast, and large SSDs. So yea, I can see the need for large PCs shrinking to almost nothing over the next decade or so, but Dell is right in that companies will need their own redundant infrastructure for quite a while. I think they are making a smart move here.

 

[mobrocket]

I think Desktop PCs as they are now will become less standard and more of a niche market..

is that a bad thing necessarily?

 

[robojin]

[citation][nom]maqsabre[/nom]by the time all tablets and portable devices become powerful, desktops will be far ahead of the pack,of course desktop is the ultimate platform for anything anytime[/citation]
[citation][nom]maqsabre[/nom]by the time all tablets and portable devices become powerful, desktops will be far ahead of the pack,of course desktop is the ultimate platform for anything anytime[/citation]

Well said buddy.

If tablets, laptops or any other mobile devices did indeed get the performance of a desktop then bravo! by that time desktops will be a lot cheaper and more powerful. And 3D animators don't really get it when some people say that mobile devices are where the business is because most successful animation studios are using server desktops.

 

[Guest]

A problem I see if that these companies are just shoving this tablet garbage down everyone's throat like it's the cure for cancer. Desktop hardware advancement has almost come to a standstill lately because everybody is focused on this mobility garbage, a device that frequently needs replacing because you can't upgrade it. Take smart phones as an example. How many "new" smart phones have been released in the last 4 years making the device in your hand just feel inadequate? Forced obsoleted devices constantly being put in your hands so you're forced to buy the next thing. Desktops for the most part have never really been put into that sort of category. Sure, EVENTUALLY your desktop is rendered unacceptable but you have a few years for that, not 6 months. I see this as another way to keep us spending our money and nothing else.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]halcyon[/nom]In 100 years I doubt anyone will be using a keyboard.[/citation]
Star Trek computers would be nice, totally voice controllable, but we have a thousand excruciating increments before we get anywhere close to that

 

[MarioJP]

I see whats going on here. I think that logically desktops OS will still be around. In fact i am waiting for the day that you have a real OS on a tablet. Physically desktops are going to disappear in the traditional looks. Your next PC could look like a cube or a drum instrument as an example, or even an open case as hardware keeps getting powerful while shrinking. Who says Desktops has to be a desktop?. They be morphed into something else yet still function like a Desktop OS. They said the same thing when Laptops came into the market yet people are building PC's. I see tablets as expansion to this but then again never have i seen laptops become super ultra portable like the macbook air and others.

At this point its hard to tell where things are going. Just because certain event is happening does not mean its "the direction" everything is going. Enthusiast crowd are getting more and more impressing by the day in terms what they are doing to their PC's. With that said Dell can't possibly compete in this area. They tried with their XPS system and failed. Maybe its Dell way of saying we been defeated??. So of course they are going to come up saying something like this.

To the guy that said "desktops is not hot anymore" well that's only in his perception. Been to the enthusiast websites lately??. Motherboards are selling like hot cakes which brings up to the next issue.

See.. PC's is not a consumer device thus can't be treated as a electronic unit as a whole. People again and again has failed to realize that you can gut the darn thing. This is what has kept Desktops alive despite of whats coming out now and the taunts of "PC's are dead" articles, and that it causes Dell to admit defeat. It can't be locked down like these trendy tablets. I think the whole reason of this Smartphone/Tablet trend is comes down to more control. It is truly controlled by the vendor. Where as a traditional computer you can put any OS you want. Can you wipe a tablet and install another OS without any hacks or "rooting" and most importantly without having to need a computer in the process? no.

So again. Traditional computing will never die even if you tried to kill it. And lastly.. Since when casual business doing "intensive work" on a laptop or tower? It has always been this way. Tablets just gave these type of businesses another option. "intensive work"?? That all depends of their type of business.

You don't need a core i7 to do a transaction of a order or to bring up the menu of what to order. Can argue that tablets could possibly replace traditional cash registers once everything goes digital?.


Boils down to the right tool for the right job really.

 

[Tab54o]

[citation][nom]halcyon[/nom]Always? I doubt that in 200 years people will be using PCs in the ways you describe if they're still using them at all.[/citation]

Yeah just like we have hoverboards and flying cars in 2012. We will still have PC's.

 

[Guest]

Until we start doing direct neural implants, the PC will never die. It might look different, it will become more powerful, but its not going away.

 

[nebun]

the only reason why dell is still in business is because of the US Military....well now they've switched to HP...let's see how long they will survive now, lol....DELL=CRAP

 

[dgingeri]

I work as an admin in a software test lab for server level software. I've had experience with most servers and network equipment. I've seen a lot, but not all.

Dell makes some of the best servers and SAS enclosures I've worked with. Their switches are good, but they're like Cisco and only work well with like equipment. Their 10Gb switches actually perform better than Cisco switches, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone publishing benchmarks about it. (Cisco actually has a clause in their EULA that you can't publish benchmarks.) I can't show numbers, but there is a substantial difference. I haven't have the chance to try their FC storage. I know their tape libraries are good, but I can't tell you why. With all the different types of hardware I've worked with, I really, really prefer Dell. They're just the best I've seen.

I really don't doubt we'll see them invest in server software and services in the near future by buying some companies out. They're in a good position to do just that.

On top of that, their monitors are really top of the line.

 

[dgingeri]

[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]the only reason why dell is still in business is because of the US Military....well now they've switched to HP...let's see how long they will survive now, lol....DELL=CRAP[/citation]

I really disagree. Their business level equipment is top of the line and supported well. Their servers are well designed, easy to work on and with, very reliable, and performs very well. I like their networking equipment far, FAR better than Cisco's crap. (Who forces such an arcane command line interface on their customers? Cisco is so absolutely HORRID to work with.) It even performs better than Cisco's equal equipment, and Dell doesn't use some legalese crap to keep people from publishing benchmarks or reselling older equipment, nor do they snag you with the basic equipment price being near equal and then super-overcharge for the little things. (Dell 10Gb SFPs are $190 each while Cisco charges over $1000 each. Sure, Cisco's switches are cheaper on their own, but when you have 24 SFPs to buy with it, that price suddenly becomes a lot different.)

Their direct consumer level equipment does have some issues, but it's far better than HP.

With my experience with HP server equipment, and especially their software support, I really do wonder how HP is still in business. We have 4 times as many Dell servers, and I've had to call hardware support for the HP stuff twice as often. On top of that, I sprung for a 27" monitor and stupidly bought an HP (ZR2740w) because it was $200 cheaper. The first one was DOA and the second died after 9 days, but I'm stuck with this model unless I pay a 10% restocking fee.

Then there's my experience with HP's HP-UX systems. that's a nightmare I wouldn't want to stick anyone with. Believe me, the military's decision to go with those systems has nothing to do with reliability, usability, supportability, or performance. It might be security, but I really hate the idea of using obscurity as a security model.

 

[back_by_demand]

The Raspberry Pi is faster and more powerful than my first PC nearly 16 years ago, the time will come when a device that small will be capable of doing everything a machine today can do even if that includes hardcore gaming, rendering, 3D modeling, CAD, etc
...
It's not a Post-PC era we are looking at, just a Post-ATX era
...
I already have banks of hard drives full of content stored at the end of a CAT6 network at home, all of it is accessible worldwide via the Skydrive remote access feature and already have a tiny Netbox attached to the TV to act as a HTPC, I am already planning another Netbox when the AMD or Intel integrated graphics allow satisfactory performance for my Steam collection.
...
As soon as the business world catches onto the fact that you can have an office drones workstation equiped with a keyboard, mouse and monitor all working from a PC the size of a deck of cards then the current model for Dell and HP is bankruptcy unless they diversify. IBM did this years ago, HP went into services and big iron as well and now Dell is doing the same. They may keep a division dedicated to producing a few consumer items like tablets but as far as the ATX world goes it is coming to an end.

 

[shafe88]

[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]I don't think that PCs will 'disappear', but may change their overall 'look and feel'.Basically I'd call a 'PC' anything that is an 'open system' where the user has the freedom to customize/upgrade hardware, OS and software at will giving a lot of flexibility.[/citation]
So if a pc is anything that gives you the freedom to upgrade, than what do you call a computer with secure boot.

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]jescott418[/nom]Well I think people are looking for a do all piece of hardware that replaces the PC. So far the tablet and smart phone have only partially filled that want. The real problem for the PC makers is that their is not a segment of the World looking to expand into PC's. Just as China is now buying more automobiles for the first time which is creating a huge growth for auto makers. The PC industry is now going from a expansion phase to a replacement phase. Tablets have huge growth to some extent because they are new and are growing a market.Eventually the tablet market too will slow. People are not ditching their PC's, they are simply adding tablets and smartphones and replacing their PC's when they need to.[/citation]
Exactly. Most people who have a decent smartphone or tablet usually already HAVE a PC/laptop. Sometimes in a family of three or more you'll find one desktop, two or three laptops, one or more tablets and three smartphones. It's just that everyone who could buy a PC or needed it already has one.
And i don't remember the last time we bought a pre-built PC. Maybe our first one (PII system) was, but then it was just upgrades or replacement by a custom rig.

 

[cats_Paw]

Those CEOs... every time they open their mouths the shares start droping...
Noone has learned the lesson yet?

 

[thor220]

Those CEOs... every time they open their mouths the shares start droping...
Noone has learned the lesson yet?

This is an old post to be replying to. It's almost a year old since the last reply.