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Sunday, September 16, 2012

The PC is dead! Long live the PC!

When was the last time you heard anything about a new desktop PC being introduced? When was the last time you heard anything about a new Apple something being introduced? When was the last time you heard about a new tablet computer of any manufacture being introduced? Maybe you are ignoring the whole technological thing, but even if you are, it is likely that you have been bombarded with advertising about smartphones and tablets. In the past week or so, Amazon.com introduced two new Kindle tablets, Apple is in the process of introducing an iPhone 5 and Microsoft announced that it was giving away free laptops, Windows Phone 8s and Surface tablets with the soon-to-be-introduced System 8 very shortly.

What has been in the news recently about desktop computers? Nothing. Nada. Not a single line of expensive advertising copy. But wait, you must be ignoring the news James, there is life down there somewhere, HP just announced an iMac look-alike. Is there another major billion dollar lawsuit in the offing? Why would you introduce and Apple knock-off before the dust settles from the Samsung judgment? Is innovation in the PC market so dead that HP has to copy Apple? Oh, and just in time for Apple to announce a new 13 inch Retina iMac! There are probably words for HPs actions but none of them are those I can use in this blog.

But think about it. Time was when a new computer meant faster, easier, better. Now it means a higher resolution display? Dig a little deeper. What is Intel doing? When will the next round of chips come out? Hmm. Guess what? The new Intel chips are targeted at ultrabooks, really skinny laptops. Intel introduced all of its new chipset last May and June. The next round won't come out until sometime in 2013. But again, Intel is looking more at mobile computing than the traditional desktop.

Will I run out and buy a new iMac just because the monitor is higher resolution? Will I dump Apple for the new Surface tablet from Microsoft? They are both about as likely to happen. It is really beginning to look like my present iMac is going to be around for a few more years.