Are the days of the desktop numbered?

[Sableyes]

Galaxy, kindle HD fire, nexus 7, all still sub £200. last longer than the 'el cheapo'.

[KBD47]

I wonder who will want a desktop in 5 years, they are practically dinosaurs now. True, a tablet being used today will be tossed out for another one tomorrow, but they will be as disposable as smart phones are right now. $75 tablets are already here.

[whatthefunk]

I wonder who will want a desktop in 5 years, they are practically dinosaurs now. True, a tablet being used today will be tossed out for another one tomorrow, but they will be as disposable as smart phones are right now. $75 tablets are already here.

I will want a desktop in five years. My current desktop out performs every mobile device on the market so I would hardly call it a dinosaur.

And Im glad you brought up the current "disposable" electronics trend. It sickens me. Electronic waste is becoming a massive problem around the world and rare earth metals are becoming rarer and rarer. Not to mention the huge amounts of industrial waste that are made every year manufacturing electronics. People should buy things with an intention to use them for as long as possible, not with an intention to use them until they fall out of fashion or are "outdated" by a new product that has a different screen size and an extra gig of ram. I wish people would realize that they are being duped by electronics companies into thinking that they need the latest and greatest useless garbage. Its all advertising and people are falling for it everywhere.

[malspa]

People should buy things with an intention to use them for as long as possible, not with an intention to use them until they fall out of fashion or are "outdated" by a new product that has a different screen size and an extra gig of ram.

That's how I see things.

[malspa]

I wonder who will want a desktop in 5 years

I will. Makes more sense for me than a mobile device. Maybe not for you, but that's okay.

[KBD47]

If it makes you feel better, I've saved two desktops and one laptop from a landfill using Linux. I think we can and should save Windows dead computers with Linux and repurpose them. But I don't think that changes the direction tech is headed. My hope is that someday we will also be able to save some tablets from getting pitched as well with Linux, though Android is working fairly well right now.

[|{urse]

I don't ever foresee this happening. Imagine all the jobs lost. Also, even if they are phased out on the OEM/Supply level I will keep making them out of random parts. Long live atx Lol.

As long as there are systems engineering hobbyists there will be the desktop tower. Ever tried to 'build' a custom laptop without calling Clevo?

<sarcasm style="position: ridiculous;">The days of the mobile device, the laptop and the Hollerith card reader are also numbered, incidentally.</sarcasm>

[Copper Bezel]

Its not just people on this forum. A lot of people in "real life" feel the same way. Probably because this new mobile technology is viewed by many as being unncessary. Everybody I know that has a smartphone or tablet repeatedly tells me how much time they are saving, but at the same time they spend hours upon hours every day "consuming" pointless media via their devices. Its a massive waste of time. Also, as has been pointed out in this thread, a lot of people can not conduct their real work on a mobile device. So why would I want to buy something for hundreds of hard earned dollars that will waste my precious time and not allow me to get anything done? Its ridiculous.

I'm an adjunct English instructor, a strictly BYOD job description. I do a lot of real work on my tablet. I also do a lot of real work on my desktop at home, and I "waste" a hell of a lot of time playing on both, which is what I'm doing in posting this right now (currently from my Nexus 7.) The tablet means that I can respond to email, pull up any document I own, or run a quick search while I'm on campus, much more efficiently than I could with a netbook. (Not a hypothetical - past tense.) The desktop means that I can actually create those documents or interact with my online classes.

Toting a netbook on campus is a hassle and a distraction. If I really need a keyboard, there are workstations for that. If I'm conferencing with a student and need to pull up a formatting guide, or if I need to respond to a student email from the cafeteria, or if I need to check something on my class schedule in the hallway, I can do those things, too. That's what the tablet's for.

And the time I waste on YouTube documentaries, Wikipedia, and you lot is unchanged. = ) It's just more comfy to read Wikipedia in bed this way.

[Hylas de Niall]

Are the days of the desktop numbered?

No.

[KiwiNZ]

Mrs kiwinz is a Senior exec for a major international OEM, she tells me that Desktop machines now represent a very small percentage of their PC sales. She also tells me that from her talks with other OEMs it is the same with them.

Whilst they will not disappear in the medium term they are becoming, in some cases already, a niche product.

Some OEMs that are currently producing traditional Desktop models are looking to change to all in one units or drop the Desktop entirely.