It seems tablets are all the rage these days, but while they're certainly providing a new and unique ways to consume media, does that mean the "old-school" personal computer will be going away?
As stated by Steve Jobs not too long ago during the iPad 2 reveal, he quoted the growing trend of "mobile OS" that'll eventually take over the PC market. And while the numbers are certainly indicating this may in fact be true, it's hard to see the personal computers becoming obsolete any time soon.
For me, I am not only a full-time employee, but I'm a gamer, a blogger, and movie junkie - I enjoy having some form of control and ownership in the technology and media I buy. As much as I love the convenience of reading my e-mails on my smartphone, there is something I find invaluable in having a primary 'super-computer' that takes care of thing such as file organizing, archiving, and a powerhouse for more intensive computing duties.
But perhaps I'm just old-fashioned and need to give trying to organize media myself when Netflix provides an instant-streaming option (with recommendations the more I use it) and purchase gaming consoles instead of trying to keep up my Wolfenstein 3D days with a mouse and keyboard.
What do you guys think? Is the PC on its way out? Share your thoughts below!
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For true writers, bloggers, gamers and file packrats, there's just no way current tablets can provide the type of performance that a PC can. As tablets evolve over the next few years I expect that gap will close, but it certainly won't close this week (or even this year).
iOS devices still require computers to activate, backup, and update them.
I agree, I don't believe that personal computers will become obsolete any time soon. For me, there is just something about having a real keyboard and mouse that makes my computing experience complete. I just can't get used to using a virtual keyboard and touchscreen navigation, even though I have been using these functions on my iPod Touch for over a year now. In addition, mobile OS devices do not have the same storage and performance capacity that personal computer have (generally speaking of course; these capacities depend on the type, model, age, etc of pc that one owns).
Having a main pc isn't going away. I think the post pc discussion is less about the Elimination of the pc and more about the elimination of the pc as a primary device. In middle-class households now it isn't uncommon to see ever individual have a pc. The rise of tablets is going to kill that. You will see people have a primary work device, a powerful laptop or desktop, with tablets or smartphones acting as the day to device.
Hell, if some one manages to roll out a good remote app scheme I have no doubt we are going to see the days of home mainframe style computing. I already treat my tablet and desktop like that.
I don't have a tablet yet, but having used a smartphone, there's no way I'm trading in my nice big honking tower PC for a tablet.
Besides the simple fact of a keyboard/mouse combo that makes me write faster, there's also the performance, storage, upgrade ability, and modular components you can't get from a tablet.
My hard drive breaks, get a new one. Graphics card old, get a new one. Keyboard not working, oh... let me drive to the nearest walmart and pick one up. Running out space, let me just get one more hard drive and put it in there. With a tablet, there's no way I can do that with ease, or even at all.
No, I think PCs will stay for a long time to come. Especially for businesses - there are too many companies running old versions of software or proprietary software that can't run on anything but a PC.
I can barely stand doing my graphic design/illustration work on a laptop, much less imagine trying to do actual work on a tablet. There's no way.
It's the beginning of a change in the way of interacting with the computer more than a wholesale replacement.
I don't think people will want to live with an intentionally limited device as their only interface for all uses. For the 85% problem though, they'll be adequate. For things that aren't on the web, then the tablets quickly stop making sense.
I own a nice, big, powerful tower. I've had a few laptops in the past and I just can't like them. I need the power and the large screen. Tablets have even less power and smaller screens.
What I do agree with though, is that laptops might be displaced by tablets in the future. I like the ipad interface and think that's where laptops should head anyway. Then I can have a powerful PC and a mobile device with an optimized OS and apps so that they always run fast.
I have been moving gradually form a PC tower, to a Macbook to an iPad and my experience has been improving every time. We have entered an era where technology is finally adapting to us and not the other way around. I have caught myself touching my PC's screen a few times and can't wait for the touch technology to become universal.
I prefer a macbook pro and an ipad to get my stuff done at home and when traveling. But, when at work iMac is the way to go.