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2[H]4U
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Maybe Im old or old school, but I dont even own a smart phone, I tell people, if I need to go online or email, I'll use my PC back at home!
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The PC Is Dead
- Thread starter HardOCP News
- Start date
I sell and support computers, and this is both true and false at the same time.
For students, I have been seeing almost zero desktop sales for several years. That said, I have been seeing a resurgence in students wanting docking stations for their laptops -- with the justification to their parents that they can have a standard keyboard for papers and such. In reality, what I see is that what they are wanting is a 22-25" LCD screen to watch their movies on rather than the 14-15" screen that's built in.
However, in the last 6 months or so, I have been seeing a large INCREASE in desktop sales and a sharp drop off in laptop sales and near zero Net Book sales.
Basically, what I am seeing is that the tablets and Smart Phones are killing the need for portability. For on the road e-mail, web browsing, etc -- everyone uses a tablet or their phone. Ditto for on the road movies and audio.
However, for real world productivity tasks like word processing, Quickbooks, SAS, Solidworks, circuit layout, presentation creation, web design, etc. -- nothing beats a desktop with a nice BIG monitor (or two or three), a full size keyboard, and decent mouse or digitizer pad. Laptops were nice from a portability standpoint, but for everything else, they are always inferior to a desktop -- and they tend to have higher failure rates, lower upgradeability, and tend to have a much shorter "useful life".
For a business or student environment, the end result has been that everyone I'm dealing with is wanting desktops again and good syncing tools for use with their phones and tablets.
For a home user wanting strictly e-mail, web browsing, etc -- this is also the case -- however, what I foresee happening there is a vast rise in dockable tablets and phones. If you can have the big screen, keyboard, etc. then they will serve fine for most of these tasks. They may even start to cut into the low end word processing markets, etc. and replace some business desktops -- but, let's face it, no tablet will EVER be able to be as powerful as a desktop of the same generation. A tablet form factor by definition limits the thermal footprint, storage capability, etc -- so they simply can't run as fast as a desktop could. This is not to say that in the future tablets won't be blazingly faster than they are now -- but desktops will gain performance as well and will likely remain an order of magnitude faster than whatever the current generation tablet is.
The PC certainly isn't dead and neither is the desktop, but, long term, laptops and ESPECIALLY Net Books are likely an endangered species.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2004
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Do people forget about the workplace? which probably accounts for a hella lot of desktop sales / workstations.
sure most people may not have a big pc at home, people want small and useful, but there will always be a market for PC's look at most releases at CES - it is all aimed at real PC users.
- Joined
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It's heresy!! Hang him by his balls and beat him with his keyboard!!!
Ditto -- my current 7MC setup has most people who see it slobbering over it. My wife does pretty much all her web browsing and word processing on it as well (I have a nice bluetooth keyboard and mouse set with 15'+ range and the keyboard has an embedded trackball as well). I've had a bunch of people asking me to set them up for them as well.
The other thing that I really see pushing people towards it is Comcrap, etc. dropping analog service. Most people I talk to detest the idea of having to pay $10-15/mo to rent a DVR from them -- especially with their limited storage space and crappy performance. You can easily get a decent little desktop HTPC with a DCT and rent a CableCard for $5 a month or less. The end result is you still get all your digital channels but also get all the benefits of a full PC, Hulu, NetFlix, etc. The only thing you lose is Comcrap On-Demand -- which is basically a big "who cares" as you can get to basically all their On Demand stuff via the Xfinity website anyway.
I haven't read the whole thread, so someone may have already said this.
Its pretty damn simple why things are the way they are. Many families have a desktop computer or full sized laptops that are shared. It seems quite common to see families with 1 desktop, and 1-2 laptops/netbooks. However how many families have members that share cell phones? Each member has their own cell phone. Then there is the whole product cycle issue. Most students I work with will have a new phone every 10-12 months while their computer lasts 2-3 years. That is going to add up to a huge sales discrepancy and it doesn't mean anything about usage.
All I have to do is take a look at myself. I am on desktops and laptops probably 10 hours a day at least between work and home. I am on my phone checking email, etc. like 10 hours a week. I replace my PC like once every 18 months to 2 years. I am lucky to get 10 months out of my phone without destroying it.
I would agree, then I got Netflix. I now play all of my media on my PS3 and instead of "acquiring" movies, I just watch them on Netflix. I haven't turned on my HTPC in 3 months now.
Its pretty damn simple why things are the way they are. Many families have a desktop computer or full sized laptops that are shared. It seems quite common to see families with 1 desktop, and 1-2 laptops/netbooks. However how many families have members that share cell phones? Each member has their own cell phone. Then there is the whole product cycle issue. Most students I work with will have a new phone every 10-12 months while their computer lasts 2-3 years. That is going to add up to a huge sales discrepancy and it doesn't mean anything about usage.
All I have to do is take a look at myself. I am on desktops and laptops probably 10 hours a day at least between work and home. I am on my phone checking email, etc. like 10 hours a week. I replace my PC like once every 18 months to 2 years. I am lucky to get 10 months out of my phone without destroying it.
I would agree, then I got Netflix. I now play all of my media on my PS3 and instead of "acquiring" movies, I just watch them on Netflix. I haven't turned on my HTPC in 3 months now.
i was giggling the entire time i read this. how do you think those "zippy" gadgets like the ipad and blackberry get made....sure as hell isnt with another ipad.
That is a valid point -- but I see a lot more people using HTPC's for things like Hulu and/or recording/timeshifting Live TV. Of course, Netflix, Hulu, etc all integrate perfectly into 7MC anyway -- so why use something more limited like a PS3?
However, an XBox 360 is a great tool (unlike the PS3) because they make great Media Center Extenders. The end result is that I have a big fact hard drive in my HTPC for recording, ATI digital CableCard tuners on it for Live TV, etc and my XBox 360 can access all of it transparently across my network. End result -- almost all the benefits but I only need one HTPC.
The one thing I do need is a decent multistream capable DCT. Right now I only have the two tuners and with the main HTPC and the Xbox, I run into cases where tuners aren't available quite often. I have been waiting (for months and months) for the Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime with multistream 3-tuner capability. However, I'm beginning to get tired of waiting and contemplating the Ceton card -- but the fact it currently has to go INSIDE the PC is a big negative for me (though, I could always hack something together in the way of an external USB enclosure like I have for my ATI DCT's).
What I REALLY want is the HDHomeRun rackmount 6-stream version with two CableCard slots.
The PS3 and the 360 do a LOT, but just remember that PC's also do Netflix ...
and Hulu Plus.
And Microsoft's meager but still existent internet TV offerings.
And youtube.
And CinemaNow.
And all your movie digital copies.
And all your home baked family videos and photos (while the PS3 can view this content just fine, Windows 7 comes with substantially more powerful editing capabilities built right in.)
And unlimited codec support, most of which are free.
And card readers to show content right off your cameras.
And dual (up to quadruple) local channel HD tuner DVR capability (which is free) or cable cards (which is pretty cheap, and mentioned above).
And all your book apps (kindle, nook, etc.) work on it if you lose your droid phone or iPod or eReader and need to finish that book ... or just want to read to the kids or family.
Yeah yeah, I know the PS3 does a lot, and quite a bit of what I mentioned above, but a home theater PC does ALL of that, VERY inexpensively nowadays. Look at the price of AMD CPUs and video cards!!! Look at Newegg's combos with motherboards! I know it takes a little more work, or knowing someone like us here on [H] that can put a nice one together. But it's SO WORTH IT. And the more people are learning about it, the more they want one. My mother-in-law is going to hook up her computer I built for her up to her TV for now, but eventually wants a slimmer, custom built home theater one when she can afford it. She has seen the ease of use and infinite functionality an HTPC brings to a home, and how it can function as a fantastic home server, with extensive expansion capabilities via eSATA and USB, which you can now get in speedy 3.0 flavor.
heatlesssun
Extremely [H]
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- 44,154
I think the future of the PC is the big screen. Unfortunately Microsoft is competeing with themselves on this with the xBox but the PC just does SO much more on a big screen than a console, does it faster, does it better.
Intel_Hydralisk
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2005
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- 4,743
How many people read that article on a desktop.
heatlesssun
Extremely [H]
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- 44,154
Great point. The IT media seems to think everything is a mutually exclusive zero sum game. People like stuff by nature, we tend to always want more not less. Incan think if you only had a cell phone to do all of your computing. Then you went to a friends house with an Eyefinity rig. That cell phone just won't make you feel as special after leaving is my guess.
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Heh. He must be one of those guys that think you need to buy a $3500-5000 pc from Dell or HP to play games, like most of the idiots in the comments section of Kotaku.
I'd have commented on Fox' site, but I have no desire to create an account just to tell the guy that he's clueless.
The PC will continue for years to come. I'm certainly not going to do everything on a fucking phone, and i still can't come up with a reason to buy an iPad or any other tablet, though I suspect I'll change my mind in a few years, when there actually is a reason.
HardUp4HardWare
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Aug 30, 2005
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- 4,274
ROFL. Classic!
This really makes me want to play classic Day of Defeat again!
hahaha, but the people who smell AND yell ARE CRAZY....so you didn't need to say all 3
hahaha, but the people who smell AND yell ARE CRAZY....so you didn't need to say all 3
Haha, nah I've seen some perfectly normal people yelling and smelling. I blame alcohol.
But, everyone already said what can be of the article itself. I for one, hope it does trend like that. All smartphones, tablets, and consoles do is draw the slobbering idiot types of pc users away from the normal pc user crowd. Win win situation in my book. Let the lemmings walk towards to cliff. I'll enjoy my pc like it was back in the good old days, with relatively savvy people who care about technology they use. =)
drleospaceman
Gawd
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2009
- Messages
- 518
What platform does this guy think that the millions and millions of developers, artists, etc. will develop content for said mobile devices? I'll give him a hint, it's not phones or internet tablets.
scaarbelly
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2008
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- 4,462
Ya, I use my smart phone to play Crysis on max settings.
Excalibur55
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2006
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- 184
The PC will be dead when I'll play a game of Warcraft 18 inside a Star Trek style Holodeck.
Seriously, I have vision problems so I need to use the monitor with a desktop or at least a full-size laptop. Tablet PC ? Thanks but I'll pass...
Seriously, I have vision problems so I need to use the monitor with a desktop or at least a full-size laptop. Tablet PC ? Thanks but I'll pass...
I hope NOT. I get where you're coming from for sure, but in an economy of scale, producing less means cost per unit goes up, which in the end, is bad for everyone. I read a recent report that the average price per PC sold actually went up. The report went on to say that the prices of components and computers themselves has not gone up, but that folks are buying a little bit pricier machines.
What we need is MORE educated consumers that continue to want more for their money and to get more out of their systems. Like I pointed out before, everyone I show my HTPC to wants one, and some have taken me up on offers to build them one. Knowledge is power, my friend, and I, for one, am glad to share it if it will benefit us all. The more knowledgeable consumers are, the more competitive and "honest" places like Best Buy and even Walmart will have to be on pricing things like cables and such.
Absolutely. And my main point I make to folks buying computers is that they STILL get a lot more horsepower for their dollar if they get a desktop to do their "real" work at home. They are more reliable, come with bigger monitors and typically higher resolutions, components are cheaper, and they're much easier to repair. I understand some people need mobility, and I certainly spend a good amount of time working and playing on my amazing smartphone, but I still get my "real work" done when I get home to my monster desktop (see sig.)
LeninGHOLA
Vladimir Hayt
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2009
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- 18,416
As modular htpc's become more widely accepted, the trend will not represent PC sales as disfavorably. I spent 4 hours after work tonight hooking up 2 friends with nice htpc setups, they have decided unanimously to sell their consoles.
It really isn't so much about "what cable goes where?" and "how do I configure this software to work for htpc?", it becomes a "why didn't I do this before?".
Especially for those that game on the couch or home theater enthusiasts, it's a no brainer.
It really isn't so much about "what cable goes where?" and "how do I configure this software to work for htpc?", it becomes a "why didn't I do this before?".
Especially for those that game on the couch or home theater enthusiasts, it's a no brainer.
Amen! Someone else gets it. That's what I love about [H].
And did I mention that Xbox 360 controllers work great on Vista and Win 7 PCs? So you can be on your couch enjoying GRID or Street Fighter IV with sweet controller action, sweeter graphics than the consoles AND when you hear the wife pull into the driveway you simply hide the controller under a cushion and alt-tab right into that Word document you were supposed to be working on. There's no console she can stick her hand on and feel that it's still warm even if you power it down real quick!
heatlesssun
Extremely [H]
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- Nov 5, 2005
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- 44,154
Bottom line, people who want the best get PCs and the best never goes out of style.
morningreis
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2005
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- 1,574
I'm not sure what is more ridiculous: this, or the time when Prince declared the Internet "dead."
Just to add... this guy would probably just as big a douche had they published the article on msnbc or jon stewart;s website or something...
Starcrossed
2[H]4U
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- Sep 27, 2008
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Fox told us 1st~
I feel the same way. I just draw a line between those willing to help themselves and those that just dont care, "gimme the power!". Those can drift towards mobile devices all they want. They will never care to educate themselves. Our market will continue to grow, just without so much fat and grease. My two cents anyway....
He's a journalist. He's a journalist who worked for the Village Voice.
He lives in an artificial environment, disconnected from reality, surrounded by "creative" types who can't use anything but an Apple product or risk being ostracized from their peer group.
He probably works in Manhattan and commutes via rail to and from, so he's further exposed to a skewed sense of what the consumer market holds dear, surrounded by affluent people diddling away with their status symbols disguised as productivity devices.
TLDR, don't pay any attention to what any formally trained journalist has to say about technology and tech trends. They have about half a clue, at best.
He lives in an artificial environment, disconnected from reality, surrounded by "creative" types who can't use anything but an Apple product or risk being ostracized from their peer group.
He probably works in Manhattan and commutes via rail to and from, so he's further exposed to a skewed sense of what the consumer market holds dear, surrounded by affluent people diddling away with their status symbols disguised as productivity devices.
TLDR, don't pay any attention to what any formally trained journalist has to say about technology and tech trends. They have about half a clue, at best.
Starcrossed
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2008
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- 2,160
What the world needs a few more moronic reporters drumming up whatever controversial subject they can in order to make a name for themselves~
Phoenix333
2[H]4U
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- Nov 27, 2009
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- 3,510
PC is dead? I have three. One I'm typing on right now, another is an older machine that I play older games on, and the third is a server. I don't have any mobile devices at all. I don't need them. I suppose I'm one of those strange exceptions this guy is referring to, but then, I never claimed to not be strange.
One area this idiot is completely ignoring is the business world. Desktop PC's are very common in large businesses, whether it's a call center or a shipping facility. Laptops tend to be used by management personnel and sales people, but the grunts of the business world are on a desktop. I don't think that's going to change any time soon.
One area this idiot is completely ignoring is the business world. Desktop PC's are very common in large businesses, whether it's a call center or a shipping facility. Laptops tend to be used by management personnel and sales people, but the grunts of the business world are on a desktop. I don't think that's going to change any time soon.