They're killing the PC...

[giZmo350]

They're killing the PC

I agree with the author 100%! Sending everyone, at least newer generations of users, to the cloud with a disposable device is the future, but it will come at a price of computing freedom, creativity, and privacy. Amigans have at their disposal pretty much any app to allow us to continue using a computer we love in a "sit down & relax" atmosphere to do real work. I also think it's important to continue to develop a browser that will allow us to surf the web on our beloved machines. The author depicts "desktop users" in the future as nothing more that a few hobbyists left in a changing world; we Amigans might just end up being the "majority of remaining desktop" users after all!

[Delta]

I'm not sure...portable devices are still pieces of cr*p for a serious user.  I consider those only as an extension of servers and workstation.  

The home PC is dying yes but the business PC is still needed.  I have trouble imagining myself designing plans in autocad on a tablet.  What will occur instead is that the tablet will become the new PC but weMll still need to plug all theses babies on real mouse, keyboards and monitors.  

All those engineers in sci-fi movies who design their stuff out of thin air on holographic tables and use "smartphone like" devices to control it make me laugh a lot.  

Maybe I sound like an old fart but the tech world does not move as fast as some people claim.  There is still a lot of tube TV out there and people who don't give a damn about smartphones.

[Iggy]

Um, I don't actually see this happening.
In fact, there appears to be a real swell in interest in older legacy hardware.

But there it is in print, so it must be true, eh?
After all its Ziff Davis and they know something about obsolete technology (say how are those magazine sales holding up guys?)

Don't worry, Amiga users won't be alone.

There will be clusters of our hobbyists all over the globe playing around with and even building new desktops for years to come.

And why not?

You're not going to hack an appliance.

[XDelusion]

Yes, desktops will always be required to create the apps, games, and the like that run on portable devices. Though with society being overtly and covertly dumbed down, both unwillingly, but primarily willingly (through entertainment, propaganda, and other means of distraction), more and more people, especially the young and oldest generations will flock towards portable devices and the desktop will probably become more of an "order on-line" affair as opposed to "drop to nearly any local retail store and pick up a unit" affair.
 It will be like the original Wii... there will be great games to be had, but all the local stores will carry will be the made for children and old folks selection instead.

 That's my prophetic vision anyhow. As for privacy, yup we'll keep giving up piece by piece by piece, and still we'll remain ignorant of the fact that the threat lies not across shores, or in a cave somewhere, but right in our own back yards, in D.C. in the white house, commerce, the banking structure, and so forth.

 Hurray for progress!!!

[persia]

You can't kill something that's already dead.

[XDelusion]

Well.. being partially native blood and very sad because of it...

 I can FULLY relate to that comment!

You can't kill something that's already dead.

[ElPolloDiabl]

I agree. There are less computer shops where you would go in and buy a DIY system. Old PC i dead. I've moved to a laptop for most things.
Laptops are catching up fast in expansion options.

One thing still impresses me about a desktop. The raw CPU power.

[Amiga_Nut]

This happens all the time, first with laptops, then PDAs, then Netbooks and now it's tablet devices on Android/iOS.

Well there is a simple fact, many computing applications need lots of raw CPU grunt and desktop PCs will always provide more of that per dollar/euro than anything else you can create. Yes Windows is incredibly sh1t BUT it has fueled the CPU advances because it is so %&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@! (and cheap terrabyte drives and cheap memory).

Add to that fact that some things you can't or won't do on a tablet and you have the simple fact a computer on your desk or a powerful laptop is going nowhere.

Cloud based computing is just another tool in the same tool cabinet, you can't undo a bolt with a screwdriver, if you keep that analogy in mind then you will be OK. Cloud based setups are helpful but nothing you couldn't do 20 years ago by emailing yourself a copy of your XL report and just downloading the attachment when you login to your email account at your other work location. Hell that principle works on even the Commodore 64

Nothing new or revolutionary will come now until the way these devices interface to the human body become embedded IMO.

[Iggy]

And Cloud based computing looks like a great idea until you look at a map of the cell coverage of the Western half of the United States.

Once you realize that this concept leaves you reliant on third party services, it becomes less attractive.

[commodorejohn]

And Cloud based computing looks like a great idea until you look at a map of the cell coverage of the Western half of the United States.

Once you realize that this concept leaves you reliant on third party services, it becomes less attractive.

Western half, hell, the entire country except for the coastal regions is spotty or nonexistent outside of major population centers, and that's even before you factor in weather issues.

Anyway, I'd say give it time. Time was that it looked like hobbyist electronics and other tinkerer hobbies were all but dead, but in the last ten years we've seen an enormous resurgence in the form of the "makers movement" and associated stuff. And half of that is kids/teens who grew up with Playstations and never even touched an electronics-lab set in their formative years, discovering possibilities they never knew existed. I would consider that to be evidence that the creative/doing urge can't be so easily purged from human nature, no matter how the industry tries. PCs will still be around for "doers" to rediscover when tablets have given way to whatever the next Future Of All Computing Forever is.

[Iggy]

...whatever the next Future Of All Computing Forever is.

I like that turn of phrase, John.
"next Future Of All Computing..", Ha! That IS good.
You know, I'd almost forgotten how often I'd heard that in the past (now where is that damned PDA?)

And, yes, I was being kind about cell coverage.
But as I live within about 10 miles of I95 (which, btw, so does a frighteningly high percentage of the rest of the US) I can count on fairly good cell coverage.

Now if I lived in Montana...

[commodorejohn]

I like that turn of phrase, John.
"next Future Of All Computing..", Ha! That IS good.
You know, I'd almost forgotten how often I'd heard that in the past (now where is that damned PDA?)

I think you left it with your "Internet Appliance..."

[gertsy]

PC = Personal computer. Cant have that, gotta be a new name, like; a tablet with a keyboard.

[psxphill]

Yes, desktops will always be required to create the apps, games, and the like that run on portable devices.

If desktops doesn't include high laptops then they are not required already. However I'd expect there to come a point where even laptops aren't required. However I think we're a way off, the tablet is not that revolution.

[slaapliedje]

I always laugh at these "the PC is dead!" articles.  The simple fact of the matter is that the 'PC' is an open hardware platform where manufacturers can't really force people to use a specific set of software (they are certainly trying recently, with Windows 8 and the big push towards online stores).

Another interesting fact for all these "Sales are way down!" comments.  Most people have a PC that are interested in having one.  Hell, if I counted all the computers I have;

Desktop/Gaming system, Server, Minecraft/Redmine server, Laptop, and I have two more that I need some parts for.  Of course my glorious Amiga as well.  These are all just my own computers.

Computers are so cheap now days that everyone has at least one, and the profits on the hardware are pretty small.  Which really is why all the smartphone/tablet people keep saying the 'PC' is dead, because they would prefer that it would be.

I actually met one guy who said he did everything he needed on his Android phone and got rid of his computer.  Personally the browsing experience and just doing everything on a touch screen is painful, and only useful in a pinch.

General computing won't go away anytime soon, since there are so many people / places that need it.  Tablets and Smartphones are basically just appliances that can only do things in a small scope very well.  Sure they can try to attach and make it do different things, but how many average people want to flash roms or root their phones to make them more useful for general computing?

slaapliedje