Google Executive says "PC will be irrelevant in 3 years" [Yahoo]

[belgolas]

The desktop isn't going anywhere right now. In 3 years mobile will become more of a part of our lives. I already do most of my web surfing on my iPhone except for a few websites that need flash. I do a lot of gaming and watching tv shows on my phone too.

I could see near the end of my lifetime your entire PC will fit in your pocket and you hook it up to a larger screen if you want to do quad HD gaming of Crysis 21. Performance is ever increasing and soon enough phones could become your only device except for a few niche markets like gaming.

Maybe we will even get hollowbands like in the TV show Caprica.

The future is pretty exciting but many of the things we dream of don't happen.

[Mr. Gruntsworthy]

For computer enthusiasts like us, PC's will never die. If we could fit today's high end desktops in a wristwatch in the next 20 years, imagine what desktops in the next 20 years will be capable of. o.o

[Jmac]

Laptops are good for the economy ...

They break down more often, cost more to be repaired, are more likely to be replaced due to obsolescence instead of simply upgraded, and most consumers like them more.

Stores = Win
Repair Shops = Win
Consumers = Win

Businesses and niche markets (gamers, video editors, etc.) will continue to use desktops for various reasons (better performance, more reliable, easy and cheap to upgrade/change parts, etc.)

[Mark]

Well, I have to agree. It's unfortunate but the writing is on the proverbial wall for the masses. You'll still have the 'nitch' market but non-the-less it's definitely on a massive decline.

[KeepSix]

I just saw this article --> BBC News - 'Console killer' OnLive to launch in June <-- before coming here, so I'll add it. I don't use Steam , and I don't see a future with this method of delivery either. I like hard copy myself. Actually, I insist on it.

[Yamcha]

I doubt it, I think it only applies to people who only use computers for surfing the web, otherwise, working with documents, designing, or gaming anything work related imo is harder on mobile devices, using word or photoshop would be a horrible experience on a laptop, considering theres that track pad..

[Photograph]

Originally Posted by Yamcha

I doubt it, I think it only applies to people who only use computers for surfing the web, otherwise, working with documents, designing, or gaming anything work related imo is harder on mobile devices, using word or photoshop would be a horrible experience on a laptop, considering theres that track pad..

I never use the track pad on my laptop, and for Photoshop a mouse still is not all that great. A Wacom style tablet is the only way to go if you are serious. I do agree that desktop PCs are on the decline, but will exist for many years to come as the level of performance and storage capacity simply cannot be made portable to the moment. This will change in time though, it just seems that with every new generation of hardware there is less of a requirement to upgrade (outside of professional and enthusiast spaces). Most people with P4 or Athlon based machines who are the typical WAWP (Web and Word Processing) type of users have not had that constant NEED for a faster machine that drove sales since the advent of the PC Market inthe 80's through to about 2005 or so when things really were fast enough to handle WAWP tasks with ease. A modern cheapo laptop with integrated video is still worlds faster than what is needed to perform WAWP tasks. Supply (of available computing power) I believe will really start to outstrip demand (of users) if it has not already started to occur in the mainstream PC market.

I waited five years since my last major update cycle, prior to that I was building a new box every 12 months to keep up. Now I can max out 90% of my games faster than the refresh rate of my displays can show. And even for most modern games the CPU (even most dual cores) are not what limits the frame rate, it's just the video card(s). With smaller and more efficient manufacturing technology it will become possible to put monster GPUs in notebooks, that I believe is inevitable. The only spot I have a real need for more processing power is when encoding HD video or processing thousands of photos, again here's the professional requirement showing up, and it's another area that may be pushed to the GPU for processing thanks to emerging technologies such as CUDA and Open CL.

Anyways to stop myself from continuing this rant; I do believe the desktop PC for the majority of users will become irrelevant. I am pretty sure my current desktops will be amongst my last, as the end is on the horizon...just not yet :)

[Oversized Rooster]

Some people think that there is a "mobile" revolution that will replace the stationary PC.

However I think this is wrong for several reasons:

1) Not everyone likes to use mobile devices because of their reduced functionality, tiny screen and inadequate input controls.

2) For many business tasks, you NEED to be at a stationary PC because of the specialty software and hardware needed, because of the need to enforce organizational security over its data assets and because you're being paid to show up at the office.

3) There is simply way too much incompatibility in terms of standards with mobile devices at the moment. Stationary PCs are all standardized to a certain extent - the way they work, the way they communicate, the way they accept user input, etc.

There really is no need to shift everything to mobile tiny devices because they are flawed in many ways. Some tasks might indeed be better done on mobile devices but others are best left alone. I think the mobile device revolution and the existing PC "revolution" can and should co-exist.

[artistpavel]

I think desktops will disappear the same way we are supposed to have the flying cars by now.

[MarkOne]

anyway it's more a Google wish than a reality. can we expect a mod for CoP to be able to play it on my cell phone