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Mobile is huge but the desktop isn't going anywhere any time soon. That's apples and oranges. The dust will settle and desktop and mobile will find their place

Mobile is huge but the desktop isn't going anywhere any time soon. That's apples and oranges. The dust will settle and desktop and mobile will find their place as tools and nothing more. A lot of people talk about the death of desktop computing and that's just bull. Furthermore, Firefox is on mobile already. They don't need their own platform to survive. Firefox stands for something that differentiates it from the other browser makers. There will always be a market for what Mozilla offers and it isn't going away any time soon. People that are concerned about privacy will ditch Chrome, people who enjoy a fast browser that renders pages as they were meant to be will ditch IE, and as for Safari... well I'm not sure if anyone really uses it all that much (it's a great browser but to me it just collects dust).

ams6110 15y ago
I disagree a bit, I think that the home desktop is in real danger of being largely replaced by mobile pad/tablet computers, which do everything most home users need and are easily used in the comfort of a recliner in the living room. They may not do everything as well as a desktop, but when the time comes and people are looking at another $1,000 or more for a new PC a number of them will look at their iPad and say "that's good enough." The business desktop will be around for a long time, I agree, as its interfaces are much more practical for all-day use.
wavephorm 15y ago
Sure, buy that huge desktop computer, and 27" monitor, mouse, ergonomic keyboard, swivel chair.... to watch youtube videos and use Facebook. Nope. The desktop computer is dead. Home users will go tablet. Enterprise users don't use Firefox today, and they probaby won't tomrrow unless something drastic happens.
- billpatrianakos 15y ago
  I still disagree. The home desktop will sharply decline and I agree that the way people use computers these days don't warrant the full desktop experience but we're overlooking a few things that mobile devices including tablets won't be able to replace for quite some time because of UI restrictions alone. People will still need to do word processing at home. Yes, tablets do an awesome job, you can get wireless keyboards etc. but there will still be users who feel more comfortable with the desktop. That's an edge case so I'll go on. Movie editing. I don't think the iPad can replace iMovie and won't for some time. I'm sure they can come close but then people still want to burn to DVD. Same with photo editing. And there's a lot more I think we're overlooking. There's no doubt that desktops are on the decline but their not going the way of the mainframe. They'll find their place and that place won't be as prominent as it is but I really doubt it'll be obsolete for home users at least not in the next 5 years.

ams6110 15y ago

I disagree a bit, I think that the home desktop is in real danger of being largely replaced by mobile pad/tablet computers, which do everything most home users need and are easily used in the comfort of a recliner in the living room. They may not do everything as well as a desktop, but when the time comes and people are looking at another $1,000 or more for a new PC a number of them will look at their iPad and say "that's good enough." The business desktop will be around for a long time, I agree, as its interfaces are much more practical for all-day use.

wavephorm 15y ago

Sure, buy that huge desktop computer, and 27" monitor, mouse, ergonomic keyboard, swivel chair.... to watch youtube videos and use Facebook. Nope. The desktop computer is dead. Home users will go tablet. Enterprise users don't use Firefox today, and they probaby won't tomrrow unless something drastic happens.

billpatrianakos 15y ago
I still disagree. The home desktop will sharply decline and I agree that the way people use computers these days don't warrant the full desktop experience but we're overlooking a few things that mobile devices including tablets won't be able to replace for quite some time because of UI restrictions alone. People will still need to do word processing at home. Yes, tablets do an awesome job, you can get wireless keyboards etc. but there will still be users who feel more comfortable with the desktop. That's an edge case so I'll go on. Movie editing. I don't think the iPad can replace iMovie and won't for some time. I'm sure they can come close but then people still want to burn to DVD. Same with photo editing. And there's a lot more I think we're overlooking. There's no doubt that desktops are on the decline but their not going the way of the mainframe. They'll find their place and that place won't be as prominent as it is but I really doubt it'll be obsolete for home users at least not in the next 5 years.