The world is going Mobile! Mobile first! The PC market is collapsing!
It seems that everywhere we turn these days we see doomsayers with “The End of the PC is Nigh” sandwich boards – well, maybe not literally, but I wouldn’t be too surprised with all the bandwagon-jumping going on. Since the rapid rise of tablets and smartphones and the slowing of the desktop and laptop PC markets (and by PC I mean Macs too) the cries to abandon PCs altogether are becoming ever more strident.
Ebooks vs. The PC
This isn’t like the battle betwen physical books and ebooks. Sales of physical books have declined substantially because an ebook is basically the same product in a more convenient format. There isn’t any practical reason to pay more for a “real” book unless you really value the feel of the paper and the space it takes up on your shelf. Ebooks and paper books are almost fungible because one can be substituted for the other without any real loss of utility.
PC vs. Mobile is different. You don’t do the same things with a desktop computer and a tablet – there is some overlap but not nearly enough for there to be a real equivalence. A tablet is great for browsing Facebook while you’re on the couch watching TV, but it doesn’t lend itself very well to an office setting, for example. Yes, mobile devices’ popularity is booming – but unlike books, it isn’t killing the PC market.
The Post-PC Era
Yes, the market for PCs will decline – but this should only worry you if you’re a PC manufacturer who doesn’t make tablets. Casual home users will probably continue migrating to tablets, but those are people who never really needed a desktop or laptop in the first place – they just needed a lightweight device with internet access and rudimentary apps and games. This isn’t a case of PCs becoming obsolete – it’s a readjustment of the market to a new device that more narrowly addresses these people’s needs.
The key part is that many people still need a “real” computer, whether it’s for work or entertainment. I’m typing this on a computer with a physical keyboard and without a touchscreen, with good reason – it works better. If I’m coding a website I want something with a comfortable keyboard, true multi-tasking, and multiple browsers for testing, not an awkwardly small slab with a smudgy screen. And I don’t even want to imagine how long it would take me to encode HD video on a tablet’s slow, low-voltage processor.
The same goes for most professions, who need any or all of a bigger monitor, physical keyboard, processing power, a mouse, and so on. At home too, many people need the added versatility and muscle of a laptop or desktop, whether it’s for gaming or entertainment.
Tablets simply don’t address those needs, and they shouldn’t have to. Just like the knife, spoon, and fork serve a distinct purpose and work well together, so too do the PC, tablet, and smartphone each address specific needs without eliminating the usefulness of the others.