Posted on 09/04/2011 6:19:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
On Aug. 12, the IBM PC — the classic machine from which all modern Windows computers descend — turned 30. IBM's Mark Dean, who helped engineer the original PC, commemorated the anniversary by congratulating his company for having abandoned the PC business back in 2005. He declared that we live in a "post-PC era" and said his main machine now is a tablet. Some celebration!
Less than a week later, HP — today's biggest PC brand — had some news of its own. CEO Léo Apotheker announced that the company was thinking about spinning off or selling its PC group, and decided to kill its TouchPad tablet after only six weeks on the market. "Is the personal computer dead? HP, the largest PC maker, thinks so," read the headline on one story about HP's bombshell. (The company later put up confusing website claiming that its PC business's future was brighter than ever.)
With all this gloom in the air, you couldn't blame Microsoft p.r. honcho Frank Shaw for getting a tad defensive. In his understandably Windows-centric worldview, PCs still do many things that tablets (and smart phones) can't do, making the latter devices "companions" to Windows boxes. He argued that we now find ourselves in a "PC-plus" era, not a post-PC one.
Declaring the PC to be toast is indeed a bizarre overreaction — one that says more about tech pundits' eternal love of knee-jerk hyperbole than anything else. Research firm IDC estimates that 361.5 million PCs will sell worldwide this year and that the number will increase to 541.5 million in 2015. That may not be heady growth, but it's also not rigor mortis. (By contrast, another firm, iSuppli, says 60 million tablets will sell this year and that it expects 275.3 million of them to sell in 2015.)
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Funny, the same cane be said for the 'Other PC' - Political Correctness!
Genius !
Everyone sees Adaptation and calls it Evolution.
I can hold a tablet on the couch after a long day. I can rest but still go on Internet. I do not believe it is either a one or another replacing device. It is both for people's lifestyle. That's my two cents anyway.
I am speaking from living with the two devices.
Almost makes one wish that Carly Fiorina was back at the helm doesn't it?
And didn't Carly Fiorina, while CEO of HP, throw money, customers, and goodwill away with a nasty snit with Dell Computer?
In terms of growth, the pc is dead. Microsoft really missed the boat on tablets. The tablet market will grow while th pc market will stay flat. I indeed have both a pc and a tablet. While the tablet is fun and ultra easy, i still need my pc for intense programs such as photoshop and other photo processing programs.
sent from my TRS-80, expect errors.
My experience as well.
What has changed for me is that I use my desktop less than I used to. But who wants to do video editing, programming, web development or serious word processing on a tablet? Not me, I use my desktop for that.
But for checking in on FR and looking for a good Mexican restaurant on the road or in my easy chair my iPad is simply the perfect device. For me at least, my tablet and my desktop are both here to stay.
Amen to that.
I now sit/recline at my desk in my home office, semi-retired, and read FR and other news on a 37” HD TV that I use as a monitor.
I also use it to do a few engineering drawings when an old client calls me and asks for help. If a part breaks I just open the side and put in a new card (or whatever). Can't do that with a laptop or tablet. I build my own computers and instaal everything I need to do what I want to do. Replace them as needed.
A laptop or tablet will not let me do that and when I go on vacation I go off the grid and don't miss a darned thing. I keep my cell phone and turn it on if there are emergencies.
If TIME can be rational about the evolution about the PC.....
.....Then WHY can't they be rational about the evolution of energy and transportation?
The PC is changing based on customers and the market. The private (non-government) market is taking care of moving forward all by itself.
But TIME and the left want to shove electric cars, solar panels, ethanol, and windmills down our collective throat at our public expense.
Yes
I don’t see HP pulling out of the PC market as saying anything about the PC, it says a lot about HP. Nobody buys HP computers anymore, the corporate market is owned by Dell, and the home market is scattered. HP is a printer company, HP has been a printer company for a long time, it’s good they finally admitted it.
RE: HP is a printer company, HP has been a printer company for a long time, it’s good they finally admitted it.
Well, if they gave up on the PC business because of too much competition, and they are now just a printer company, who’s to say that they won’t give up that business eventually as well?
RE: And didn’t Carly Fiorina, while CEO of HP, throw money, customers, and goodwill away with a nasty snit with Dell Computer?
Under Carly, I believe HP not only bought up Compaq, but also owned the very robust, bot now practically un-appreciated operating system that was designed by a company called Digital Equipment ( remember DEC ? ) called OpenVMS.
HP also owns the TANDEM NON-STOP operating system, a very robust operating system as well.
Needless to say, nothing every happened to these products after HP’s acquisition and a lot of engineers who made these OS their bread and butter are probably unemployed.
What did the PC historically do? It enabled non-voice communication (whether one-to-one like email, or one-to-many like blogging), kept and organized your personal data and documents, helped you look up information, and allowed you to play games.
Exactly. Motion pictures and television shows are now edited on desktop computers. I don't think they are going to switch over to tablets to do that. I edit video, use Photoshop to edit still photos, and design graphics for our company's website, I sure can't do that on a tablet.
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