The PC is Dead

[Gregg]

This is just one of the cases why PC is not going to be dead anytime soon. There are plenty other examples of software that you just can't use properly (if at all) on your smartphone.

[hello_hello]

PC sales are obviously declining. There's many reasons, and the market becoming saturated is definitely one of them. A five year old PC isn't generally that much slower than a new PC, so there's no need to upgrade quickly. Sure, people are using mobile devices to supplement their PCs and probably don't have the money, or need, to continually upgrade both. Some people might only use a mobile device. Does that mean the PC is dead for everyone? Of course not.

Personally, I think one reason for the decline can probably be attributed to Windows. Not because it's bad, but because it works. Many times, back in the days of Win95 and Win98 I saw people dump their old PC and buy a new one simply because Windows would no longer run. I've seen many PCs head for the rubbish dump due to being bogged down with spyware or because they were full of viruses and didn't run properly any more. Nothing to do with the hardware as such. As Windows has become more stable and people have become more security conscience PCs are lasting longer. Not necessarily the hardware as such, but the software.

All those sorts of factors effect the sales of a (relatively) "mature" product in a saturated market. Does it mean the product is dead? of course not. In fact if you look at predictions for future sales against previous sales, you might be forgiven for thinking the decline in PC sales is now mostly behind us. Time will tell.
http://www.statista.com/statistics/269044/worldwide-desktop-pc-shipments-forecast/

[hogger129]

It isn't dead for me. This is the same guy that killed off the iPod Classic because he thinks everybody is doing streaming and apps now.

[PuzZLeR]

Personally, I think one reason for the decline can probably be attributed to Windows. Not because it's bad, but because it works. Many times, back in the days of Win95 and Win98 I saw people dump their old PC and buy a new one simply because Windows would no longer run. I've seen many PCs head for the rubbish dump due to being bogged down with spyware or because they were full of viruses and didn't run properly any more.

We forget how true this was. People would be much more inclined to buy a new PC from such reasons then than they would be now. Today, PC buyers replace their PCs more likely due to some significant upgrade more than because something older is broken - and of course this would decline overall sales. But it's certainly not because "The PC is Dead".

It's because "The PC is Better."

But I also see it like this too: It's kind of like the car boom of the 1920s. They were being manufactured and sold like crazy. Then, sales declined near the end of the decade. One of the reasons is that we reached a point where everybody had one (or three), and few had any need to replace their car(s) every year. Then, of course, the Great Depression, and the financing issues, and yaddy-yah.

My point is that car sales declined drastically in the 1930s, but you can't say, even a century later, "The Car is Dead."

And go jump in a lake if you're some so-called expert, who spends 8 hours a day on their diddly habit of stroking their phone, telling me our PC is dead.

[johns0]

Why update a 5 year old computer when the newest ones are only about 5% faster with the newest games,as long as you update your video card.that's why i think a lot people aren't buying new pcs,not only for my reason but most only use their pc for browsing and email.

[SameSelf]

Because very few programs are cpu bound anymore. And programmers are focused on developing apps for phones and tablets rather than the PC. And when those programs finally get ported to a PC, the power of the PC is never fully exploited. Chris Roberts, the famed Wing Commander game designer, recently crowd-sourced the funding of his upcoming game, Star Citizen, instead of partnering with a publisher. When asked why, he stated that publishers today are focused on making games that can be sold/played on as many devices as possible: PCs, consoles, tablets, phones, streaming, etc. The net effect is the dumbing down of games versus the days of yore when you had buy the biggest, baddest cpu/gpu/ram combo you could afford just to play it. Mr. Roberts's goal is to specifically rekindle the mania of PC gaming by purposely not porting his game to consoles and other devices. Similarly, many are hoping the Oculus Rift and VR can re-invigorate the declining PC market. I would say the jury is still very much out on whether either Chris Roberts or VR will be successful. To me, these represent more of a barrier to entry than anything else. For better or for worse, ARM and SoCs, or RISC-based designs versus x86 or CISC-based designs, have changed how we think about computing.

[hello_hello]

Because very few programs are cpu bound anymore.

Software no longer requires a CPU to run? Remarkable!

And programmers are focused on developing apps for phones and tablets rather than the PC. And when those programs finally get ported to a PC, the power of the PC is never fully exploited.

Do you have an example that isn't a game?

Most software doesn't exploit the full power of the PC. That's been the case for a long time. Has your CPU usage ever sat on 100% while you're typing a Word document? At best, some software is CPU intensive some of the time. That doesn't mean the PC is dead. It just means the "full power" of a PC is only one of the reasons people have for using a PC.

For better or for worse, ARM and SoCs, or RISC-based designs versus x86 or CISC-based designs, have changed how we think about computing.

How many people do you know who's sole computing device is an ARM and SoCs, or RISC-based design? You might be able to claim they've changed how we think about computing, but you can't claim the way we think about computing precludes owning a PC, at least not for the foreseeable future. You own one, don't you?

[johns0]

How often do you post or access this forum with a tablet or smartphone compared to a desktop/laptop computer?I use my computer 99% of the time doing that.

[pandy]

For better or for worse, ARM and SoCs, or RISC-based designs versus x86 or CISC-based designs, have changed how we think about computing.

How many people do you know who's sole computing device is an ARM and SoCs, or RISC-based design? You might be able to claim they've changed how we think about computing, but you can't claim the way we think about computing precludes owning a PC, at least not for the foreseeable future. You own one, don't you?

Partially from 486 time and fully from Pentium 2, x86 is no longer CISC (even if ISA is CISC based).
Insisting to use RISC vs CISC comparison nowadays is wrong and totally incorrect.

[PuzZLeR]

...programmers are focused on developing apps for phones and tablets rather than the PC. And when those programs finally get ported to a PC, the power of the PC is never fully exploited.

This can be biased either way.

This is because phones and tablets have more room to grow as opposed to PCs which have, more or less, stabilized. This can be also be interpreted to be that the phone and tablet are still technologically behind the PC (at least in terms of raw power) and need to be improved, hence more development resources applied to them.

And a phone program, still today, can't fully exploit a PC's more superior potential, unless you add to your program, which compromises qualifying it as a "direct port". Again, this too can be interpreted to be that you'd need, or can make, a "superior" version of that program for the PC.

[SameSelf]

Because very few programs are cpu bound anymore.

Software no longer requires a CPU to run? Remarkable!

Umm, yes, that is exactly what I meant....

[budwzr]

I'm posting on a Surface Pro 4 tablet. it has a big enough screen to give a PC experience. I doubt the PC is dead. There's no viable alternative.

[SameSelf]

I am posting on a blackberry. Not sure the model number. Using a PC to post on a forum is like using a sledgehammer on a nail.

[El Heggunte]

Using a PC to post on a forum is like using a sledgehammer on a nail.

Even though this forum was created 16 years ago

[budwzr]

Another factor is the dumbing down of the masses. Many people nowadays don't have the mental capacity to handle real software.

[PuzZLeR]

I am posting on a blackberry. Not sure the model number. Using a PC to post on a forum is like using a sledgehammer on a nail.

Well my "sledgehammer" runs at 70+wpm on a real keyboard.

Yeah, I prefer my thumb instead...

NOT!

But I can tell those phone strokers many other things as to what they can do with their thumb also.

Another factor is the dumbing down of the masses. Many people nowadays don't have the mental capacity to handle real software.

Your post's key word, albiet in partial form, was "dumb" - many fitting synonyms to that word also.

[SameSelf]

autocomplete and swiftkey save me a lot of time typing. You should try it.

Also, I love how this thread just keeps going since I first posted nearly three months ago.

[usually_quiet]

More PCs were sold last year than tablets. PC sales declined less than tablets. The tablet is closer to being dead than the PC.

Research firm IDC reported a 13.7 percent year-over-year drop in worldwide tablet sales in the fourth quarter, with 65.9 million units shipped

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-02-tablet-year-weak.html#jCp

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015 (4Q15), a year-on-year decline of -10.6%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC )

Read more at: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS40909316

[PuzZLeR]

autocomplete and swiftkey save me a lot of time typing. You should try it.

Yeah, did try it, and it can save time for the thumb typist. But it's still faster for me directly with QWERTY.

And, I actually have to take a split second to "look" with the texting choices, and they're not always right, especially when I want plural, singular, or other form, or different case, etc, and can be more time consuming than even direct thumb input sometimes, etc.

And, in just this time alone I've already typed a sentence on my keyboard. Even if this predicting feature was available on my keyboard, I'd still be faster without it than with it.

And it also creeps me out when a program is trying to predict my next word.

More PCs were sold last year than tablets. PC sales declined less than tablets. The tablet is closer to being dead than the PC.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

"Tablets" are not new, and they've already died before, so I'm not surprised. Somewhere around 2002/2003, these XP tablets were also coming out, with a stylus and all. What happened to those? There was a gap in time, somewhere like 2007ish-2010ish where you wouldn't see them any more till they came back in a different form later.

I also remember in that same era Toshiba said that they will stop making desktops from now on, and pushing their laptops, as the desktop was supposedly dying. That was almost a decade and a half ago. What happened to the death of the desktop?

Also in this same era, a computer reseller I was working for was pushing a new line of PCs every 3 years to their commercial/corporate clients. They said that this was "the cycle". What happened to that?

Via reasoning from a few posts ago, a 3 year cycle wouldn't be nearly as necessary today. Yes, a cycle that has expanded in diameter by 2X+ can diminish sales, but it does not mean any "death", only stronger life, when in fact, it's because the PC got better. I know companies even now still using 8-10 year old PCs, or even earlier, who insist there's no need to upgrade yet, and I believe them to be correct, not "cheap". Maybe they'll replace the odd part that breaks down, but not the "entire line".

(By the way, replacing the "odd part" on a laptop or tablet could be much more expensive - if possible. Keep that in mind.)

All this talk about a "dead PC" or a "dead desktop" is starting to sound old now, with a higher "aging rate" and "obsolescence factor" than the actual PC desktop is in any way.

Also, I love how this thread just keeps going since I first posted nearly three months ago.

Well, I'm having fun with it, regardless of any who disagree with my posts.

[usually_quiet]

Correct me if I'm wrong.

"Tablets" are not new, and they've already died before, so I'm not surprised. Somewhere around 2002/2003, these XP tablets were also coming out, with a stylus and all. What happened to those? There was a gap in time, somewhere like 2007ish-2010ish where you wouldn't see them any more till they came back in a different form later.

Microsoft released the Pocket PC 2000 in the year 2000. If you count PDAs, tablets are even older than that.

[johns0]

I remember a local computer shop saying they didn't sell amd motherboards cause they were dead,it's just a perception to me on what looks like it going out of style.

[hello_hello]

I am posting on a blackberry. Not sure the model number. Using a PC to post on a forum is like using a sledgehammer on a nail.

What happens when you post using a PC? Are the fonts bolder? Are your posts submitted with greater force?
Are sledgehammer sales declining? Is the sledgehammer dead?

[johns0]

That's just a bad exaggeration to use since it's much easier to post with a normal computer than a tablet or raspberry pi or blackburied.

[acheter]

I’m optimistic. When the public gets engaged, the press gets engaged deeply, it will become clear to people what needs to occur. You can't weaken cryptography. You need to strengthen it. You need to stay ahead of the folks that want to break it.

[SameSelf]

I am posting on a blackberry. Not sure the model number. Using a PC to post on a forum is like using a sledgehammer on a nail.

What happens when you post using a PC? Are the fonts bolder? Are your posts submitted with greater force?
Are sledgehammer sales declining? Is the sledgehammer dead?

It blows ur mind and rocks ur world.

[SameSelf]

it's much easier to post with a normal computer than a tablet or raspberry pi or blackburied.

Says more about yourself than anyone else in general. IOW, speak for yourself.

[usually_quiet]

Strange that SameSelf has lots to say about personal use cases, and even posted one himself, but has nothing to say about the very up-to-date PC and tablet sales I posted, after insisting that I come up with some.

The tablet sector that did best were those with detachable keyboards, making them much like small laptops.

[hello_hello]

Yes, I remember when "personal use cases" weren't considered a valid part of the discussion, and SameSelf had an ability nobody else possessed.... to observe what's happening around him and make predictions based on his observations.... yet now he's talking about how he's posting to this forum on a Blackberry, in...... and it's been a long, long, long, long, time since I've used this word..... in what amounts to little more than trolling his own thread.

it's much easier to post with a normal computer than a tablet or raspberry pi or blackburied.

Says more about yourself than anyone else in general. IOW, speak for yourself.

What does it say about johns0? I find sitting at a desk with a keyboard and a 22" monitor a much easier way to post than using a couple of thumbs to type on a tiny screen. It's possible to post from a Blackberry of course..... maybe not even all that hard..... but I'd rather post from a PC myself.

[johns0]

Well i use a sledgehammer on my tablet when i try and post with it since it can get fidgety.

[Steve(MS)]

autocomplete and swiftkey save me a lot of time typing. You should try it.

Also, I love how this thread just keeps going since I first posted nearly three months ago.

Currently, we have a kinder-gentler forum than a couple of years ago when you would have been slammed right off the bat for making a false statement.
Since the thread name is "The PC is Dead", it starts off with a false premise since "is" is present tense.
Therefore you should be required to rename this thread in all fairness to the rules of the truth of the matter.

Even so, likely you will remembered for this thread more than any other threads you have participated in so you will need to be very careful in any other reply or thread you start.
I am sure you will be "straightened out" with any other false claims you happen to make.
Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame.