Death of the desktop PC

[Uranium-235]

If you can get an android phone, an iphone, or anything between with a contract, why get a desktop PC? ok, making documents for school, get a cheap netbook. With HTML5 and all kinds of apps for every conceivable function, why do people need a desktop PC?

with html5 portability getting better across all mobile browsers and flash being optional on many websites, why would someone need a desktop pc?

ok, there is always the gaming market, and of course business market, as companies want something not as steal-able as a phone or tablet, of course the x86/64 based server platforms always being necessary for the service side of the internet, I realize...most of my clients are 40+, and their children use their phones for EVERYTHING, on occasion uses their parents desktops/laptops for writing papers

as our desktop clients die off, whats left?

[Sparky]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

No laptop or mobile device will have the sheer power my desktop PC will have, nor be capable of the 3D immersion that my desktop PC can do. Plus, no android device nor a cheap netbook can drive my 46" TV oh, and no netbook has a full-size keyboard - I HATE typing on a dinky little keyboard for extended periods of time, and I HATE staring at a tiny little screen for extended periods of time as well.

No replacement for my desktop, ever. Supplement? For sure, but not replacement. Been there, tried that, hated it, never doing it again. Plus I can't watercool portable devices

[Pentium4]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

If you can get an android phone, an iphone, or anything between with a contract, why get a desktop PC? ok, making documents for school, get a cheap netbook. With HTML5 and all kinds of apps for every conceivable function, why do people need a desktop PC?

with html5 portability getting better across all mobile browsers and flash being optional on many websites, why would someone need a desktop pc?

ok, there is always the gaming market, and of course business market, as companies want something not as steal-able as a phone or tablet, of course the x86/64 based server platforms always being necessary for the service side of the internet, I realize...most of my clients are 40+, and their children use their phones for EVERYTHING, on occasion uses their parents desktops/laptops for writing papers

as our desktop clients die off, whats left?

Even viewing webpages on your phone just isn't the same. You have to do lots of scrolling and the speed isn't that great. My 3G has a ping of 140 and highest DL rate I've seen is around 90 kB/s, not that great. I like being able to see everything on the screen. Laptops are nice and all, but gaming on one doesn't feel the same and gaming laptops are so expensive. Plus with a desktop you can have nice and big speakers. I can see how desktops are dying out but I can't ever see them going away I love my desktop computer the most. And once I started gaming on my PC, I can never go back to the 360!

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

Try coding something on your android.
Or researching something complicated...
I sometimes use two screens and I've had customers that use up to four.
.
I don't even have a 'smart' phone and I don't care to.
.

[Topcat]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

The day I get a rise out of viewing videos or browsing the web on a 4" screen compared to my 27" 16:10 monitor will be the day I dump my desktop.....and that won't happen in my lifetime. I also like my 8 cores and 24gb of RAM. No phone can get anywhere near that....I also have no desire to game on a phone in any way shape or form. IMHO, smartphones are cute toys for yuppies & geeks and status symbols for high school girls, but in the real world, they fall very short of being a practical internet or computing appliance. I have a blackberry with all the toys....but I still primarily use it for calls and text. It's rare I do anything more with it.

In short, desktops will not die off anytime soon.

[ratdude747]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

admittedly my desktop doesn't see too much use, but that is mainly beacuse i have both a laptop and a dock, and all my college notes and papers are on my laptop.

however, for recording tv or gaming, gotta use use the desktop.

[shovenose]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

Desktops won't ever die out - they're winners in almost all categories except portability. They have better reliability, expandability, ergonomicness, and gaming/processing power.

Granted my Android phone flies after overclocking it to 1.5GHz - and with 768MB RAM it's got more memory than a lot of older computers. However, the touchscreen keyboard is bad for everything longer than the shortest of texts ("lol", "yes", "no", or "idk"). When I'm posting from my phone you can tell -wehn I tpye lkie tihs...

[Uranium-235]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

you guys have to understand that its US that like the desktop pcs. the generations behind us are getting used to mobile phones, and these phones are getting more and more powerful-dual core processors, integrated 3d graphics. for gaming kicks, these noobs tend to go for consoles

mobile phone software is going to be more and more capable of doing the 'complex' research that you're talking about bonez with newer software tricks, and better hardware support, organization and better gui

you say you have clients that use two/four screens, but how old are they? what generation are they? they're used to desktops, and thier kids are able to type just as fast with thier thumbs as a keyboard. and laptops now a days can replace desktops (for general usage).

correct, you have gaming, but you have to understand 90% of people only used thier desktops for two things, email and web-on occasion skype and such, but there are skype apps for mobile platforms.

whats going to happen in 10 years? desktops will start to be phased out. If someone can get used to, and master typing on a phone keyboard, they can get used to typing on a netbook keyboard

only place left is workplace/workstation desktops, and even some of those are moving to laptops (workstation laptops). I've seen them, although they are exxpensive

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

mobile phone software is going to be more and more capable of doing the 'complex' research that you're talking about bonez with newer software tricks, and better hardware support, organization and better gui

Never get there.
Need to display two full pages of text [big enough to read it] for it to be worth a shit.
You aren't going to get there on something that fits in your pocket.

[c_hegge]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

I'm sure desktops will die out for the general computer-illiterate public, although I think they will be replaced by laptops, not phones. As far as they can see, a laptop does everything a desktop can as well as be carried around. I'm sure it's really only people like us who will continue to use desktops for the next 10-20 years.

[lti]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

How is anyone supposed to write formal documents without a real keyboard? People are too lazy to carry a wireless keyboard around with their tablet or to carry a notebook.

[shovenose]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

They don't understand that jamming all that shit into a 14" laptop case compromises expandability and reliability - but even I (Mr. On His Phone 24/7) prefer to use a PC...

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

I can't see a receptionist [at say the doctor's office] filling out the forms on a phone either.
.

[ratdude747]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

I can't see a receptionist [at say the doctor's office] filling out the forms on a phone either.
.

or a netbook... too much data, too little screen

[Sparky]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

or a netbook... too much data, too little screen

And too little keyboard.

Typing on a mini keyboard like that is murder.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

these sitchuations are few and far between, but you people have to understand something...IF A 16 YEAR OLD CAN TYPE AT 40WPM WITH TWO THUMBS, THEY CAN HIT 50-60 WPM ON A NETBOOK. You and I might not be able to stand the netbook keyboards, but the younger generations are. They're getting tablets/phones at ages less then 6. Move forward to 10 years later, they're 16, within these 10 years, phone/tablet development might have gone so far, they might be able to play halo on a tablet with an nvidia tegra GTX 880. with the way things happen, it WILL happen (of course it will have to be M$ or an OS capable of running M$ x86/64 binaries.

who knows? maybe with the advent of android (which is a free OS), microsoft might get the idea to sell some of thier platform code to let windows apps run in an andriod market....or at least lower thier OS prices

I think the $129 andriod tablet that comes with everything but hardcore 3d games (for now) is going to kill the desktop, at least in the retail market

it can still exists in a local cloud, having a company with a massive server, and high-grade wifi extenders everything, then bootP (implemented on ARM devices bioses?), and the OS loading from the server (making it a portable thin client). Elimination the powerful imbetween device of a 'box pc'

then people can stick the tablet into a docking station (you've seen them!!!) and will let them use thier tablet in a normal desktop enviorment, monitor, keyboard, mouse) ALL replacing a pc

i'm not talking about you or me right now, i'm talking about a 5-10 years down the road, we still see everything going tablet

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

I'm thinking companies with management that has any brains won't want all their companies info on devices that fit into pockets.
.
Many companies disable USB ports so flash drives can't be used for that very reason.
.

[ratdude747]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

I'm thinking companies with management that has any brains won't want all their companies info on devices that fit into pockets.
.
Many companies disable USB ports so flash drives can't be used for that very reason.
.

so THATS why they still make units with PS/2 ports...

[Sparky]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

these sitchuations are few and far between, but you people have to understand something...IF A 16 YEAR OLD CAN TYPE AT 40WPM WITH TWO THUMBS, THEY CAN HIT 50-60 WPM ON A NETBOOK.

I wouldn't call the gobblygook with mutilated spelling and punctuation they punch out "typing."

[toastygoodness]

Re: Death of the desktop PC

I wouldn't call the gobblygook with mutilated spelling and punctuation they punch out "typing."

agreed. netbook keyboards suck. I can hit that speed, but my hands feel like they were run through a pasta grinder afterwards.

desktop pcs aren't going anywhere, try using just mobile devices for a year like I have, it's a disaster!