"Consumers aren't impressed anymore with bigger hard drives or faster processors. That's not as exciting as a bigger TV," Katayama said. "And in Japan, kids now grow up using mobile phones, not PCs. The future of PCs isn't bright."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071104/ap_on_hi_te/bye_bye_pcs;_ylt=AiTQLUatXatjEqSwFD9YrSis0NUE I disagree with this being a problem
PCs will always be of use, there will just become increasing specialization of these PCs
there will be work computers, browser computers, which do nothing but get online
There will be gaming computers, which will rock. And then there'll be multimedia computers and mixtures of them all.
I think that there will be a downturn in computer purchases. This will cause computer makers to merge, and to become more competitive, I.e. good for the consumer!
| bogger wrote: |
I think that there will be a downturn in computer purchases. This will cause computer makers to merge, and to become more competitive, I.e. good for the consumer! |
Yay Capitalism!it all depend on what usage you want, like that kid Igarashi said, his three-year-old desktop was "good for now." as long as it fit the purpose, why bother buying a new one? since they got purchasing power, they spend their money on something else.
PCs will remain... who wants to watch a movie in a cellphone? or code a programme or design/edit pictures/videos?
even if thats true.... its a long way b4 it finally comes true.
| badai wrote: |
| it all depend on what usage you want, like that kid Igarashi said, his three-year-old desktop was "good for now." as long as it fit the purpose, why bother buying a new one? since they got purchasing power, they spend their money on something else. |
Yes, I think that's the main problem; PC's are big enough and fast enough to do any reasonable task, and have been for some time. Why buy a bigger and faster one, when you don't need more size and speed? That, and TV's and phones are taking on more and more of the tasks that only a computer used to be able to do.You can't make a flash movie on a mobile phone, or re-dub a cartoon on your ps3, or write a story on your ipod. I guess people just don't do creative stuff that they need a pc for, anymore.
That sounds crazy to me.
No matter how popular phones or whatnot get, a PC is really not so easily replaceable by such eletronic devices.
I think in some respects processor speed, amount of ram, and some other features are good enough for the average user that if you just want to use the net and run most programs a $500 or less pc will do the trick. I don't think that people are going to start watching movies on their cell phones or replacing a computer with a palm pilot if they are computer programmers. I think the pc will exist in some form for at least the next 50 years, like cars have changed but are still fundamentally similar to the original.
Nano technology could shrink the home pc down substantially and I think that's where we are headed in the next 10 years.
Actually, a lot of people use their cell phones to watch TV here in Sweden... I myself hardly watch tv at all, so it is not attractive to me... but for people who would die if they missed an episode of their favorite shows(s), I guess it is a good thing to be able to watch tv wherever you are 
PC's will probably stay around for creative work, as said earlier, but they might get pushed aside for the average user who just does Internet, e-mail, and watches videos. Your all-in-one PDA/phone/video player/mp3 player/TV/radio/camera/etc. may come to completely replace the PC in many people's lives. Come to think of it, there is an attractive element to only having one electronic device in your possession and having that be the only thing you need.
True, you won't be doing web design, graphics work, programming or other things on one of these little hand-sized gadgets, but most users don't often do such things, and would count it as a small loss, and not worth worrying about. (and not worth carrying around something 50 times as big in order to do these things).
i myself use my phone to surf the web, and to make international calls through skype since that is about 98% cheaper than calling through my cellphone carrier to my girlfriend's cell who lives in the US. I LOVE it! 
I also use my phone as a modem which gives me broadband wherever I want it (up to 7.2 mbit)
