google predicts the demise of desktops in 3 years

[deadrats]

how's this for a bold prediction:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-John-Herlihy-Desktops-Irrelevant,9803.html

Speaking at UCD in Dublin yesterday, Google Chief John Herlihy said that smartphones enhance Google’s mission to make information universal, adding that in Japan, more research is being done on cell phones than on PCs. Herlihy predicted that soon smartphones will be the center of it all.

in a related story, i'm predicting that google comes out of the closet in 3 years and changes their name to gaygle.

[ron spencer]

Bullsh*t

[creamyhorror]

"in Japan, more research is being done on cell phones than on PCs"

- what?! Are they seriously saying Japanese researchers use cell phones for computational tasks in their research? (Or did they mean that more engineers are developing cell phones than PCs...which seems pretty damn obvious and natural to me.)

[Poppa_Meth]

Desktops may become smaller form factor over time but I don't think they are going anywhere for a very long time. Desktops are just plain better for many tasks than any other type of system. I surely don't want to encode video on my cell phone. I don't even like doing it on a laptop due to prolonged heat issues.

[El Heggunte]

google predicts the demise of desktops in 3 years

Google also believes Google will last forever.

[Supreme2k]

Because of the smart cars and hybrids, SUVs and trucks will disappear within two years.

And by disappear, I mean simply vanish. It will be like some real Area 51 type of sh!+. Mark my words!

[AlanHK]

If you go back to see what the guy actually said, not the paraphrase of the highlight of the soundbite:

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/15446/business/in-three-years-desktops-wil...le-sales-chief

Google believes that in three years or so desktops will give way to mobile as the primary screen from which most people will consume information and entertainment. That’s according to Google Europe boss John Herlihy who said that smart phones enhance Google’s mission to make information universal.

Which is reasonable. He isn't talking about "computation", but more so what might be the most common platform people will use to access Google; email, porn, etc. And I see people doing all that on smartphones on the subway now in Hong Kong.
A lot of businessmen use their Blackberries a lot more than their PCs, and if they have a PC it's likely to actually be a laptop.

[MOVIEGEEK]

In a related story Apple's Steve Jobs said "the iPad will make netbooks obsolete".

[handyguy]

I think the article refers to desktops as home computing, which would include desktops & laptops.