Digital Home Thoughts: Is it Time to Say Goodbye to the PC?

"The impression is certainly there. Microsoft had record revenue thanks to its Office business, server software and the Xbox 360. Windows, however, suffered from the third consecutive quarterly revenue decline. Is the market moving away from PCs and toward tablets and smartphones?"

The desktop PC has been a faithful companion to many of us for years, if not decades. Always there to write letters, play games and open up the world of the Internet to us. However, that has changed. As technology has improved, the need for a big box sitting at a desk is no longer needed and we are mobile, bringing our powerful computers with us. Even more, with wireless communication advancing, we have access to massive amounts of information and computing power. Is the desktop PC still relevant?

The Luddite in me says yes. Being someone who always believes in own his or her own data, I think that having ones own resources is important. However, as the world has shown with the success of cloud computing, a lot of people are quite comfortable in a world where their stuff is handled by everyone but themselves. The desktop PC has definitely been marginalized and I can see a world where many people never need one. Chances are, there are plenty of people like that already. I do think that the desktop still has a place, at least in the work environment, but that is more for practical reasons. There is no technical reason for it, only practical.

Still, I do not see that as wholly a bad thing. The advancement of smartphones and tablets have done wonders to free us from those dark rooms only illuminated by the glow of a monitor. We are mobile and more interactive than ever.