Will laptops kill the desktop?

[Tom]

A laptop with a removable screen that functions as a tablet.

 

[RobS10]

A laptop with a removable screen that functions as a tablet.

Great idea! Undock the screen from the top of the keyboard and have an HDMI connector to plug in your external monitor or HDTV. The trick would be to engineer really good hinges that would allow the screen to function in a solid and stable way like a regular notebook, and with quick toolless removal. Probably a niche market no one will touch due to production cost, but sounds very cool. I hate having to bend my laptop screen either foward or backwards to use the external screen and I'm not ready for a tablet. I want a real keyboard.

 

[GFORCE100]

Each form factor plays its role in business and leisure and has its positives and drawbacks. There is however a trend appearing stating that desktop PC sales are levelling off while mobile (i.e. laptop) sales increasing dramatically. I believe in 2010 these were +3% for desktop PC's and +87% for mobile (chiefly tablets).

 

[HeXen]

Desktop sales are lower than smaller devices. 2011 is said by some media insiders to be the year of the tablet. Most people don't need powerful hardware. I bought an ipad recently and have spent a ton of time on it. Because its like carrying a book, i found i carry it from room to room far more than i did my Lappy. I can consume the internet, read magazines..etc in bed all while listening to music or whatever much easier than i could my 4.5lb laptop which forced me to sit in a certain position to use.

i think this may be why so many people are purchasing netbooks/tablets more so than desktops, it makes consumption easier without completely being seperate from others in your household. Compare the differences of taking a serious dump with owning only a Desktop, or a laptop or an ipad and the choice is obvious. Each have their uses but i now prefer owning 1 desktop and 1 tablet..thats all i need.

 

[ArchAngel777]

I predict that 75% of PC sales moving foward is going to be the portable segment (Netbooks, Tablets & Laptops). We will still have desktops, but they will start to drop down to probably 25% market share, which is where they will likely stay for some time.

 

[ArchAngel777]

To hell with the cloud. From my perspective, it is another surrender of individual privacy and an invitation for more identity theft, data loss and/or corruption.

Completely agree. Cloud seems to come up every decade as the second coming and then it fades for a while and comes back. I don't like all the hoopla over it. I have seen so many IT departments plan on 'saving' money by going cloud based and they end up creating everyday problems for the business they support, and likely results in lost revenue. This is a blanket statement, not implied for everyone, but one thing I see time and time again is:

"Hey, this will save lots of money!" two years later "Where is the savings?" five years later "Yeah, were dropping it, we haven't saved a dime".

 

[WackyDan]

I hate to say it... But your Phone is going to replace your laptop. Look at Motorola's Atrix and you will have a good idea of what is coming. The ability to dock your phone to a KB and mouse at home with a large screen is here... The Atrix allows you to dock in a special laptop style dock for flexibility on the go. More phone makers will follow.

Considering most PC users are primarily web driven with their use... phones are going to be the game changer.

Would you use your phone for heavy spread sheet use or 3d games? Probably not, and that is why you could still use a regular PC.

 

[HeXen]

I hate to say it... But your Phone is going to replace your laptop. Look at Motorola's Atrix and you will have a good idea of what is coming. The ability to dock your phone to a KB and mouse at home with a large screen is here... The Atrix allows you to dock in a special laptop style dock for flexibility on the go. More phone makers will follow.

Considering most PC users are primarily web driven with their use... phones are going to be the game changer.

Would you use your phone for heavy spread sheet use or 3d games? Probably not, and that is why you could still use a regular PC.

i think for home use, most on average won't want to dock their phones to devices and monitors. rather they'll just buy a small laptop or tablet instead.
remember, people are lazy and quick convenience rules the roost.

 

[watzup_ken]

Demand for laptop sales is increasing at the expense of desktops, but to totally replace desktop is not really possible. After all, desktop have the potential to be a lot more powerful than laptops since it is not constrained by space, unlike a laptop. So power users will still need a desktop as oppose to a laptop. I am using a laptop now cause I don't use my computer for very intensive apps, plus, it is more power friendly.

 

[LR6]

I think that for most users the laptop has already killed the desktop. I bought a cheap ~$500 Compaq laptop several years ago and it still is a fine websurfing/facebook/youtube/ms office machine. I still have my desktop for Gaming/Photo & Video Editing, but most mainstream users do not do these things.

So in the future I see virtually all mainstream users buying laptops and gaming/photo/video/whatever enthusiasts that need a powerful system buying desktops.

 

[RobS10]

If you need a computer to be moved from room to room or state to state, there's no choice but a laptop. But beyond the portability factor (which is a biggie), and space limitations on placing a desktop to the side or under a desk, why would you get a laptop? My laptop takes up the same amount of desk space as a full size desktop keyboard, without its comfort and features. It has a small, squinty screen that washes out if I drop my head. Sure, I added an external monitor, but now it's really taking up desk space to get the monitor far enough away so I can drop the laptop's screen out of the way. It costs at least 30% more than the desktop I'm about to buy, all with slower parts that most likely won't hold up as long as a desktop's, a battery that must be replaced every few years, and limited, or tedious expandability. I will say though, to look at my laptop next to my old desktop tower, for the average user, the laptop probably looks easier to deal with.

 

[f4phantom2500]

ultimately people won't use laptops or desktops. ultimately the interactions you have with your computer won't be akin to sitting at a box, pecking at a keyboard, looking at a screen. ultimately, it will be an interaction with another intelligence. you will speak/think/gesture, and your computer will react to and with you, regardless of where you are. basically, whatever you imagine a completely intuitive, simple, streamlined, high-tech way to interact with a computer, will be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUdDhWfpqxg

 

[RobS10]

Yikes! Guess I'm showing my age (or closemindedness), but I really think there is such a thing as TMI, and too many choices that have to be researched and Googled, We will lose our ability to trust our instincts and guts, which for some people works a hell of a lot better. It makes us human ;-)

 

[LR6]

I was just at Office Depot and they had 17 notebooks, 2 netbooks, 3 desktops and 1 all-in-one for sale. Interestingly they also had ~16 monitors and a huge selection of full size keyboards.

I will likely have a desktop as my main PC for a long time, but it appears that most are buying laptops.

 

[RobS10]

I was just at Office Depot and they had 17 notebooks, 2 netbooks, 3 desktops and 1 all-in-one for sale. Interestingly they also had ~16 monitors and a huge selection of full size keyboards.

I will likely have a desktop as my main PC for a long time, but it appears that most are buying laptops.

Desktops take up the most space in the stockroom, and the most shelfspace to display properly out on the floor (have to run wires to monitor and keyboard, two power connections) so it may also have something to do with laptops just being easier to carry in the store.