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The PC and the web aren't dying anytime soon. PC sales aren't going to 0. They are simply at a point where they are good enough to last a bit longer than they u

The PC and the web aren't dying anytime soon. PC sales aren't going to 0. They are simply at a point where they are good enough to last a bit longer than they used to. With the replacement cycle getting lengthened, sales go down. They will plateau though. Nobody is stopping using pc's altogether. At worst people will be buying convertible laptop/tablets. iPad is awesome, but it doesn't solve all problems. The web, like pc's, is also not going to die anytime soon. Linking between apps is far too complicated, and finding things without Google would suck. If you know exactly what you are looking for, perhaps apps work for that. It is the equivalent of type in direct traffic though. Otherwise, you are going to google to find something specific, or twitter/facebook, to find something random. Each of those things require the linking of the internet. You may or may not use the built in browser much, but you will use the browser view in those apps to consume the content that is out there.

mark-r 13y ago
Short term you're probably right. Longer term I think tablet capabilities will increase to a point that is unimaginable today. Meanwhile the contraction in PC sales will absolutely stall the innovation that PCs will need to compete.
- craigvn 13y ago
  At that point what is the difference between a PC and a tablet. There are hybrid devices now, are they PC's or tablets? I think when people say PC they often mean the brown box under a desk. I agree that they days of that are limited as increasingly powerful machines can fit in a small box, you can already hook up a Surface tablet to multiple monitors and keyboard and operate just like a PC. As a developer I don't think we should even think about these things, we just need to support them all popular platforms without getting hangups over the names.
seanmcdirmid 13y ago
> With the replacement cycle getting lengthened, sales go down. They will plateau though. Fewer PCs are being replaced at all. The PC market freefall will reach a non-PC bottom, but this market size might be more appropriate of a workstation market than the old mass PC market.

mark-r 13y ago

Short term you're probably right. Longer term I think tablet capabilities will increase to a point that is unimaginable today. Meanwhile the contraction in PC sales will absolutely stall the innovation that PCs will need to compete.

craigvn 13y ago
At that point what is the difference between a PC and a tablet. There are hybrid devices now, are they PC's or tablets? I think when people say PC they often mean the brown box under a desk. I agree that they days of that are limited as increasingly powerful machines can fit in a small box, you can already hook up a Surface tablet to multiple monitors and keyboard and operate just like a PC. As a developer I don't think we should even think about these things, we just need to support them all popular platforms without getting hangups over the names.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago

> With the replacement cycle getting lengthened, sales go down. They will plateau though. Fewer PCs are being replaced at all. The PC market freefall will reach a non-PC bottom, but this market size might be more appropriate of a workstation market than the old mass PC market.