Do we even need a desktop any more?

Pc sales have been going down hill for a while according to forbes it could be going down for years

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/11/12/pc-sales-could-decline-for-years-to-come-analyst-says/

we now have tabets that are very powerful and even our phones can do all our daily tasks we need everyday. The samsung galaxy 4 will have 8 cores in it!

last year over 500 million smart phones were sold alone.

I can use my tablet for everything i need to do on a computer I really don't even need my pc and i don't see why most people would anymore. PCs cost way more money and don't really offer much more in usefullness unless you need it for work.

Even microsoft has seen this thats why windows 8 is so god awful on desktops.

Will most desktop users be pc gamers in the future?

I have moved my PC into the basement and hook it up to my 65" tv. It's great for some games, others not so much. I will probably get another case soon and put my old computer parts in it to play RTS games. So really, it kind of depends on what you use your PC for. I personally would say that I have a need for one.

Most PC's also cost way less money than most smart phones.

This topic again.

Until tablets, hell even laptops, can be as efficient in areas such as high end gaming, 3d modeling/rendering, motion graphics etc, then desktops will always be a necessity.

Tablets aren't there yet. Even for casual use of the itnernet, it's a pain to navigate a web page, nevermind say even post on a forum board like this. You need a keyboard and mouse to get work done.

So, ok, you hook up a keybaord and mouse to your tablet. You're still not being productive because just about every tablet out there is non multi-tasking. You have to close or suspend apps, switch over to somehting else, and then back again to get work done. 

Personally, I do a lot of video editing with family videos, TV shows and movies, and gamign footage. I also do a lot of photo editing. I also have a huge collection of music in lossless formats.

I can't work with any fo thsoe thigns efficiently ona  tablet. Not yet, and probably nto for a long time.

Now compound that with my job - I'm a programmer, I need a powerful machine, and a lot of screen real state. Tablets cannot give me that. Even laptops cannot give me exactly what I need.

That doesn't mean desktops won't eventually become irrelevant. They will. A LONG time from now. Tablets will be so powerful that you cna just wirelessly hook them up to dummy terminals to do actual work as well as play games, etc. And home server machines, or cloud bases systems will handle the ehavy lifting for anythign tablets can't handle.

However, if you are under the impresison that this will happen before consoles are LONG dead though, hoping it's some sort of "gotcha" or some such nosnense, then you are beyond stupid. Even though PC desktop sales are slipping a bit, we're tlkaing about tiny, tiny percentage out of HUGE shipments world-wide. There are more desktop PC's sold in a SINGLE QUARTER than PS3's, and Xbox 360's have sold COMBINED during the ENTIRE PAST 7 YEARS.

Perhaps someday when I'm retired and don't have to work for a living. Until then, I still need desktop PCs.

Call me when I get edit and render video with the colour levels required for broadcast from an iPad. clyde46

as i said in the first pc unless its for work then its not needed. You can get a chinese tablet with a super HD screen same as ipad for less then 300$. once the processing is there it could also take some of that market.

Demand for PCs is slowing due to diminished returns.  Productivity is still at its highest when computers are used in a desktop setting (generally, and assuming you don't have games installed :P )

Demand for PCs is slowing due to diminished returns.  Productivity is still at its highest when computers are used in a desktop setting (generally, and assuming you don't have games installed :P )

Basinboy

This is another thing. The market is saturated. That it still manages to ship hundreds of millions of machines even as saturated as the market is, well,t hat's amazing. Name ANYTHING that does that good.

[QUOTE="clyde46"]Call me when I get edit and render video with the colour levels required for broadcast from an iPad. osirisx3

as i said in the first pc unless its for work then its not needed. You can get a chinese tablet with a super HD screen same as ipad for less then 300$. once the processing is there it could also take some of that market.

[QUOTE="osirisx3"]

[QUOTE="clyde46"]Call me when I get edit and render video with the colour levels required for broadcast from an iPad. clyde46

as i said in the first pc unless its for work then its not needed. You can get a chinese tablet with a super HD screen same as ipad for less then 300$. once the processing is there it could also take some of that market.

connect a keyboard and mouse

You would want a chinese tablet if you were a smart shopper. Don't even bother saying "chinese products are bad" you know why? Because almost everything you have is most likly made in China. People love apple and samsung...guess where they are made?

meh 2/10

Tablets are fine for casual work (browsing, email, note), but not great for other things and especially multitasking

Tablets are fine for casual work (browsing, email, note), but not great for other things and especially multitasking

lostrib

they are fine for that, none sense

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

Tablets are fine for casual work (browsing, email, note), but not great for other things and especially multitasking

osirisx3

they are fine for that, none sense

Uh no they arent, the lack the screen space and adequate hardware and software for many kinds of work.

[QUOTE="lostrib"]

Tablets are fine for casual work (browsing, email, note), but not great for other things and especially multitasking

osirisx3

they are fine for that, none sense

[QUOTE="clyde46"][QUOTE="osirisx3"]

 

as i said in the first pc unless its for work then its not needed. You can get a chinese tablet with a super HD screen same as ipad for less then 300$. once the processing is there it could also take some of that market.

osirisx3

connect a keyboard and mouse

You would want a chinese tablet if you were a smart shopper. Don't even bother saying "chinese products are bad" you know why? Because almost everything you have is most likly made in China. People love apple and samsung...guess where they are made?

[QUOTE="clyde46"][QUOTE="osirisx3"]

 

as i said in the first pc unless its for work then its not needed. You can get a chinese tablet with a super HD screen same as ipad for less then 300$. once the processing is there it could also take some of that market.

osirisx3

connect a keyboard and mouse

You would want a chinese tablet if you were a smart shopper. Don't even bother saying "chinese products are bad" you know why? Because almost everything you have is most likly made in China. People love apple and samsung...guess where they are made?

Unless they want decent software and hardware support

[QUOTE="osirisx3"]

[QUOTE="clyde46"] Why do I want some Chinese rip off? And do you expect me to edit video with a touch screen?clyde46

connect a keyboard and mouse

You would want a chinese tablet if you were a smart shopper. Don't even bother saying "chinese products are bad" you know why? Because almost everything you have is most likly made in China. People love apple and samsung...guess where they are made?

[QUOTE="lightleggy"]are you a sales rep for tablets inc or something? tablets will never replace desktop PCs because of utility and because some people (such as myself) hate tablets and anything wtih a freaking touch screen.AlexKidd5000

most people dont want to do it them selfs so it wont matter to the general public. Its not just phones and tablets its also things like smart tvs and mini computers that could take away from the pc market share. Hell even googles new chrome books run really good and they cost like 200$.

are you a sales rep for tablets inc or something? tablets will never replace desktop PCs because of utility and because some people (such as myself) hate tablets and anything wtih a freaking touch screen.lightleggy

Even handhelds? :o

most people dont want to do it them selfs so it wont matter to the general public. Its not just phones and tablets its also things like smart tvs and mini computers that could take away from the pc market share. Hell even googles new chrome books run really good and they cost like 200$.osirisx3

I'm not going to be able to play Bioshock Infinite using a Tablet.

we now have tabets that are very powerful and even our phones can do all our daily tasks we need everyday. The samsung galaxy 4 will have 8 cores in it!

 last year over 500 million smart phones were sold alone.

I can use my tablet for everything i need to do on a computer I really don't even need my pc and i don't see why most people would anymore. PCs cost way more money and don't really offer much more in usefullness unless you need it for work.

Even microsoft has seen this thats why windows 8 is so god awful on desktops.

Will most desktop users be pc gamers in the future?

osirisx3

Has it occurred to you that different people use their computers for different things, not related to 'work'?  Tablets and phones are largely 'consumer' devices, decent for 'consuming' content, but not creating content.

My hobbies include writing stories and digital artwork - things I would find very difficult to do on a tablet, as I touch-type and use a graphics tablet.  I don't consider those as 'work'.  Also, I have a very large music collection (currently over 60Gb) on my hard drive which I dip into at random every day.  Oh, and I play PC games.  Lots of them.  My Steam folder is currently sitting at 330Gb and I only have half of my Steam library installed.  My GOG folder is 200Gb, with most of those games not installed.  Most of my disc copies of games aren't installed at all.  My folder for game patches exceeds 10Gb, and game mods nearly 20Gb.  And I have over 30Gb of personal files (mostly my artwork).  In short, I need a 1Tb drive and decent RAM/processing power just for everyday stuff, which I'm not going to find on a tablet, and certainly not on a phone.

Also I'm at home most of the time, so I don't need a 'portable' device.  Hence it would be pointless getting a powerful (and costly) laptop to fulfill these functions.  A desktop PC is more cost-effective, suits all of my needs just fine, and will do so for the foreseeable future, complemented by home consoles.  My point is that everyone is different, and while tablet/phone computing is ideal for some, it's not ideal for all, so PCs will continue to be sold even if the market shrinks because there will still be a demand for them.

This topic again.

Until tablets, hell even laptops, can be as efficient in areas such as high end gaming, 3d modeling/rendering, motion graphics etc, then desktops will always be a necessity.

Shottayouth13-

There is a difference between the microstation, aka "PC", being needed in the business world and the pedestrian, home user needing a computer. The former will always be needed, the latter not so much.

Call me when I get edit and render video with the colour levels required for broadcast from an iPad. clyde46

All we will need are Quads in the future

All we will need are Quads in the future

Quad4Life

 

Will most desktop users be pc gamers in the future?

 

osirisx3

[QUOTE="osirisx3"]

 

Will most desktop users be pc gamers in the future?

 

mitu123

Where would PC gamers move besides desktops? 

No. I already have a notebook and laptop and just got another laptop fro Christmas. The phone has the internet, the 360 and Wii has the internet, getting a desk top is a waste of money.

I think every household need to have a desktop PC since it is more reliable and does'nt break as easy as a laptop or a tablet. But when people buy a PC these days they usually choose a laptop. Laptops these days are powerfull enough for everyday needs, and it's probably what most people uses for gaming as well.

No. I already have a notebook and laptop and just got another laptop fro Christmas. The phone has the internet, the 360 and Wii has the internet, getting a desk top is a waste of money.

timbers_WSU

Unless you need it for work, or wanting to use it for gaming

I think every household need to have a desktop PC since it is more reliable and does'nt break as easy as a laptop or a tablet. But when people buy a PC these days they usually choose a laptop. Laptops these days are powerfull enough for everyday needs, and it's probably what most people uses for gaming as well.

Martin_G_N

[QUOTE="Martin_G_N"]

I think every household need to have a desktop PC since it is more reliable and does'nt break as easy as a laptop or a tablet. But when people buy a PC these days they usually choose a laptop. Laptops these days are powerfull enough for everyday needs, and it's probably what most people uses for gaming as well.

AlexKidd5000

and worse cooling/noise

I think every household need to have a desktop PC since it is more reliable and does'nt break as easy as a laptop or a tablet.Martin_G_N

All we will need are Quads in the future

Quad4Life

I need a desktop to be productive, and I need it for gaming.

I've got a laptop that I tried to use for school, but I just dislike laptop keyboards, and the track pads. It makes doing certain tasks a bit harder, and carrying around mice and such diminishes the allure of using one outside of my house anyways.

I've also got a tablet, and I haven't turned it on in a couple months. The screen size might be acceptable to some, but when I go back to the 24" widescreen on my desktop I feel like royalty :P

[QUOTE="Quad4Life"]

All we will need are Quads in the future

clyde46

Of course, with that high bandwith GDDR5

[QUOTE="osirisx3"]

Will most desktop users be pc gamers in the future?

mitu123

LOL. PC Gaming sucks.

No. I already have a notebook and laptop and just got another laptop fro Christmas. The phone has the internet, the 360 and Wii has the internet, getting a desk top is a waste of money.

timbers_WSU

[QUOTE="clyde46"]Call me when I get edit and render video with the colour levels required for broadcast from an iPad. osirisx3

as i said in the first pc unless its for work then its not needed. You can get a chinese tablet with a super HD screen same as ipad for less then 300$. once the processing is there it could also take some of that market.

I still use my PC for things, but it's true that I find myself using my IPad or Smartphone for some things I would do on my PC. Was trying to find an address while driving with my wife and she reminded me that I have a Smart Phone (Samsung Galaxy II S) with unlimited web. A few clicks later we found out that the restaurant we wanted to go to didn't exist in our city (or state for that matter). blackace

[QUOTE="Quad4Life"]

All we will need are Quads in the future

clyde46