PC's becoming obsolete?

[Cthulhu 2020]

PCs will never become obsolete.

Tablets will become more popular among those who only use computers for social networking and email/messaging. laptops will be more popular for those constantly on the move and travel a lot, but PCs will always be the power houses with the most flexibility.

I have a smart phone, tablet, laptop, and a PC. I spend the most time on my PC, but when I travel for work I take my laptop and tablet with me. Laptop for the hotel room and tablet when I'm just out and about.

[Drunkenfinn]

Noway they are dying.

But as far as portability goes I dont think I'll ever be getting a tabletop PC ever again unless I get e really well-paid job or win the lottery.
Reason being my beast of a Gaming Laptop that I bought a year ago. I just love how I can easily take it with me while still having enough horsepower to play the games I like to play at good settings. And when I'm at home I can just plug in my keyboard, mouse and 27'' screen and it works just like a tabletop PC.

Hopefully the power of gaming laptops will become even closer to their tabletop counterparts in the future!

[Deleted]

playstation and xboxes are called CONSOLES.

Guess what, consoles are computers ergo they're technically a subcategory of PCs.

PCs will never become obsolete. Sure, their progression and development hasn't been as significant as it was a few decades ago but technology always finds a way to improve itself.

[breadisfunny]

Guess what, consoles are computers ergo they're technically a subcategory of PCs.

PCs will never become obsolete. Sure, their progression and development hasn't been as significant as it was a few decades ago but technology always finds a way to improve itself.

guess what NO THEY'RE NOT. THEY ARE CONSOLES.

[Deleted]

guess what NO THEY'RE NOT. THEY ARE CONSOLES.

Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 use PC architecture. In other words, they have PC parts in them. Physically they're both PCs. They are consoles though, since they can do about 1% of what a PC can do and you use them with a pad on your couch watching a TV screen. But, physically, they're PCs.

[haxartus]

Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 use PC architecture. In other words, they have PC parts in them. Physically they're both PCs. They are consoles though, since they can do about 1% of what a PC can do and you use them with a pad on your couch watching a TV screen. But, physically, they're PCs.

Someone will figure out a way to install Linux on them and they will be a 100% PCs.

[The Small Hours]

I've read pc sales are down, people are saying that they are rather buynig smartphones etc, some people are saying that they dont need to upgrade their machines.

[wowaccounttom]

no way. TVs and consoles will go before PCs.. and thats a long way from happening.

PC competition is simply too small, too impractical, too expensive for what it offers, too delicate, too slow processing wise (CPU and GPU) due to lack of cooling... just too many "toos" for those devices to replace a PC.

As for sales going down PCs vs smaller devices.. well, people don't usually drop their PCs every other day. They also don't have the desire that their applications start .0000000002 seconds faster.. this seems to be the case with people and phones... guess it is easier for someone to "show off" the "faster" phone than the faster PC (which would be used mostly for gaming or video editing)

[Eroginous]

You see it written in articles or on the news that PC's are becoming obsolete. Do you agree with this? Personally I prefer a PC to a tablet or laptop, and don't think I'd switch over any time soon. You can make the argument that consoles will take over, but many people prefer a mouse and keyboard to play video games or just to do anything in general.

What are your thoughts on PC's becoming obsolete?

PCs made for things like email, internet surfing, or light office work certainly are becoming obsolete. Who needs an Emachine when you can buy a tablet or a netbook that can do all the same things just as effectively.

For people who do video editing, photo shop, software design, gaming, or any other tasks which require higher performance hardware, you are always going to need a PC.

[haxartus]

PCs made for things like email, internet surfing, or light office work certainly are becoming obsolete.

No they aren't. Even simply browsing the web I can fill 8GB RAM pretty quickly, because I don't like to close tabs. I usually have between 50-60 tabs open at the same time plus a ton of other software in the background. Tablets can't handle heavy multitasking.

[TaurenNinja]

No, they won't become obsolete. It's just hype, and the IT industry lives too much on hypes.
What is happening is that PC sales will drop a lot, but that is only because those people who do almost nothing except browsing, e-mailing, social networking, chatting, casual gaming and so on can actually replace their PC without hesitation.
But anyone who uses the PC for other work, especially businesses, will not be able to replace the PC completely. A tablet or smartphone will be a nice addition for when you're on the go, but it cannot be a true replacement. Furthermore, keyboard/mouse is so superior to touch. Although touch has its uses, and is in some areas better, you're way faster with the current PC user interface. Writing this post here on a tablet would have taken 20 times as long.

So yes, there will be demand for fewer PCs of course, but they're still a necessity. The IT industry spins this as the death of the PC because it's fucking sensationalist.

[Doylez]

What's the difference between a PC and a laptop/tablet? Pretty much only size and power.
No matter how powerful tablets are going to get, you can always get more stuff inside of a bigger PC.

Even if by some miracle they're going to get so small and powerful that you don't possibly need any more speed/storage/cooling there is still something to be said about having a real keyboard/mouse and a bigger screen.

[Heathy]

If you ask me consoles are becoming more like PC's. Either eventually enough ppl will want kb's and mouses for their RTS gaming or FPS or you could say at least, more ppl slowly move to a pc. there will always be a market for the desktop gaming pc, in terms of computing power and just appeal its always been the pinnacle. tablets, pretty niche, to me. it was like ppl thought, 'hey why do we sell laptops, when we could sell HALF A LAPTOP'

[Deleted]

Until a laptop can be as powerful as a pc and not overheat the PC will always be there in great numbers

The reason PC sales slow (outside the gaming market) is people don't tend to upgrade very often.

[lonefalcon]

So yes, there will be demand for fewer PCs of course, but they're still a necessity. The IT industry spins this as the death of the PC because it's fucking sensationalist.

yeah i think they just looking at pc pre built box sales not parts l think its more people building there own now

[Deleted]

PCs are stepping aside on consumer field, definitely. With more hardware-requiring static applications, servers etc. it will hold it's ground I think.

How are PC's becoming obsolete when the very nature to PC gaming is superior to consoles in every way?

Microsoft once was testing out multiplayer on a new Halo game and pitched PC players against console players to see if cross-platform would work. The PC players destroyed the console players.

You shouldn't be going to WalMart to buy your PC. The joy is in building it yourself.

Consoles have always been more accessible and have served the gaming function better - the possibly better performance with a mouse+keyboard doesn't change that fact.

[Csnyder]

no.........

[Exaelitus]

Until a laptop can be as powerful as a pc and not overheat the PC will always be there in great numbers

I agree that there will always be plenty of desktops, but in most cases it's not because they are more powerful than laptops. That's only an issue if you're considering really high end workstations and gaming rigs. There are plenty of laptops with decent GPUs that don't overheat. Even if that weren't the case, most consumers aren't even familiar with this issue. More importantly, the vast majority of desktops don't contain hardware that would be taxing on a laptop. The majority of desktops are in use because they are cheaper to build and maintain. This will probably always be the case. Even if tablets and laptops overcome their shortcomings, desktop hardware will probably advance just as quickly, leaving it either as the cheaper, more flexible, or more powerful alternative.

[Yvaelle]

yeah i think they just looking at pc pre built box sales not parts l think its more people building there own now

That and they don't count laptops and tablets and Apples as PCs, because they're sensationalist.

- - - Updated - - -

Microsoft once was testing out multiplayer on a new Halo game and pitched PC players against console players to see if cross-platform would work. The PC players destroyed the console players.

The industry has tried that at least a dozen times with AAA titles and they always act shocked when they see the results: it's silly. As a former semi-pro FPS player, I can twitch a headshot in a fifth of a second with a mouse in things like counter-strikes, quakes and CoDs (and for competitive FPS, I'm considered "bad" at twitching). I've seen the supposedly pro console FPS'rs play - and it takes them like half a second (2.5 times longer) just to centre-mass spray at people using a joystick - and I don't blame them - it takes me like 5 seconds to make a joystick go in the area I want it to, so they're gods by comparison given the terrible implements they have mastered: but any noob with a mouse can out-shoot the best joystick FPS'r any day of the week IMO.

Playing competitive FPS on a console is like claiming you are the Worlds Best Eater of Spaghetti using a single Greased Chopstick. Respectable, in it's own strange way - but anybody with a fork is going to have a much more enjoyable meal.

[haxartus]

If the RAM breaks on my PC, I can remove it, get it into the shop for replacement and get a new one. All within less than 2 hours. This will be significantly more difficult on a laptop and not possible on a tablet/smartphone.
The majority of people who work at computer repair stores are stupid, and the fact that I have to rely on someone like them to fix a hardware problem on my laptop horrifies me.