http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...Collection

The personal computer is in crisis, and getting little help from Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8 software once seen as a possible savior.

Research firm IDC issued an alarming report Wednesday for PC makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., saying world-wide shipments of laptops and desktops fell 14% in the first quarter from a year earlier. That is the sharpest drop since IDC began tracking this data in 1994 and marks the fourth straight quarter of declines.

(04-11-2013 01:02 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...Collection

The personal computer is in crisis, and getting little help from Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8 software once seen as a possible savior.

Research firm IDC issued an alarming report Wednesday for PC makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., saying world-wide shipments of laptops and desktops fell 14% in the first quarter from a year earlier. That is the sharpest drop since IDC began tracking this data in 1994 and marks the fourth straight quarter of declines.

I built my own PC about 8 years ago and just ordered parts for an upgrade. I got Windows 7 and not Windows 8.

A month ago I got my kid a laptop with windows 8 on it and he and I both hated it and so did one of my friends. Went here http://www.classicshell.net/ and downloaded a program that allows you to give Win 8 the look and feel of Win 7 or XP. I feel much better now.

I got my daughter a Windows/RT hybrid tablet/laptop (Dell) and Windows 8 seems like a reasonable OS for a tablet or high-end phone. It seems virtually intolerable as a desktop/laptop OS. I'm hoping the no-moving-parts aspect of it will make it survivable in her case.

(04-11-2013 04:06 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I got my daughter a Windows/RT hybrid tablet/laptop (Dell) and Windows 8 seems like a reasonable OS for a tablet or high-end phone. It seems virtually intolerable as a desktop/laptop OS. I'm hoping the no-moving-parts aspect of it will make it survivable in her case.

I'm honestly surprised there is still a market for desktops at all.

(04-11-2013 04:27 PM)Ninerfan1 Wrote:  

(04-11-2013 04:06 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I got my daughter a Windows/RT hybrid tablet/laptop (Dell) and Windows 8 seems like a reasonable OS for a tablet or high-end phone. It seems virtually intolerable as a desktop/laptop OS. I'm hoping the no-moving-parts aspect of it will make it survivable in her case.

I'm honestly surprised there is still a market for desktops at all.

I prefer them because they're far easier to upgrade or repair. Want to improve your graphics card? Just slap a new one in and you're done.

(04-11-2013 04:36 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  

(04-11-2013 04:27 PM)Ninerfan1 Wrote:  

(04-11-2013 04:06 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I got my daughter a Windows/RT hybrid tablet/laptop (Dell) and Windows 8 seems like a reasonable OS for a tablet or high-end phone. It seems virtually intolerable as a desktop/laptop OS. I'm hoping the no-moving-parts aspect of it will make it survivable in her case.

I'm honestly surprised there is still a market for desktops at all.

I prefer them because they're far easier to upgrade or repair. Want to improve your graphics card? Just slap a new one in and you're done.

Personally, I've always hated laptops. I don't like any of the poor excuses for mice that are built in (even with touchscreens, I find the smudges irritating). Memory capacity on laptops is generally shortchanged. But, I'm typing on one now, and have been reasonably happy with this one.

People who think desktops will go away do not:
- play serious games
- do video editing
- do serious photo editing
- do serious computational work
- have real storage needs
- have meaningful home theaters that they have control over


The desktop is always and will always be king for people who actually use their computer for meaningful and/or intensive tasks.



Windows is sliding, but the PC's secret weapon is Linux. I bet if you were to survey sales of enthusiast PC parts from vendors like Newegg they are actually UP ... as people are building Linux rigs or custom Windows rigs. Steam came out for Linux just a few months ago and the Linux Steam userbase will likely eclipse the Mac userbase by the middle of this year. Dell will sell you a Linux PC, a Linux server, and a Linux gaming PC from the factory. Pogo, System76, Penguin Computing, ZaReason, and probably another 3-6 major independent vendors sell EXCLUSIVELY Linux desktops/laptops.

Talk to somebody who lives it to get the real story, instead of some guy for a fish wrapper who googled around for 30 minutes and talked to a goon at IDC.

(04-12-2013 12:57 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  People who think desktops will go away do not:
- play serious games
- do video editing
- do serious photo editing
- do serious computational work
- have real storage needs
- have meaningful home theaters that they have control over


The desktop is always and will always be king for people who actually use their computer for meaningful and/or intensive tasks.



Windows is sliding, but the PC's secret weapon is Linux. I bet if you were to survey sales of enthusiast PC parts from vendors like Newegg they are actually UP ... as people are building Linux rigs or custom Windows rigs. Steam came out for Linux just a few months ago and the Linux Steam userbase will likely eclipse the Mac userbase by the middle of this year. Dell will sell you a Linux PC, a Linux server, and a Linux gaming PC from the factory. Pogo, System76, Penguin Computing, ZaReason, and probably another 3-6 major independent vendors sell EXCLUSIVELY Linux desktops/laptops.

Talk to somebody who lives it to get the real story, instead of some guy for a fish wrapper who googled around for 30 minutes and talked to a goon at IDC.

I think most of us get that but the tech is moving to a more mobile platform. There will always be bulkier PC's but the majority of end user appliances will be tablets or another form of more mobile device. People will hold on to PC's like they have the newspaper....

Mobile? Yes. Smartphones yes. Tablets no. I think they will not stand the test of time.

I have three computers that turn off when I try to open them, two are desktops.
Nothing is certain, but desktops give me a greater sense of living longer and being more useful.
For someone traveling a lot can understand the portability.
When it comes to computers, I am a hoarder, still have an original MAC that I paid $3700 for
when they first came out, and that was real money back then.

The crux of it is, for personal internet usage, people no longer use desktops and laptops, they use cell phones and tablets. If you aren't surfing the net on your computer much, less chance you are going to get a virus and have to replace it. Microsoft's problem I don't think is Windows 8, but the failure to beat Apple and Android manufacturers to the cell phone and tablet market.

(04-12-2013 06:24 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Mobile? Yes. Smartphones yes. Tablets no. I think they will not stand the test of time.

Disagree. They are cheap, have plenty of memory, and with cloud computing, plenty useful for all of your music and movies. They are perfect for anyone that uses their computer for surfing, reading, and storing files, which is the vast majority of people outside of work. They are useless for gaming geeks or graphic design, but all that most people need. I got a Kindle Fire HD 9" for Christmas. Wife paid $200 for it. It took a few days to figure out how to get around the Amazon proprietary crap and to get Flash and apps available on Google Play, but now I can honestly say it does everything I need a personal computer to do.

I literally despise laptops. I owned one briefly and gave it to my daughter. I will never have another one. I simply can not type on the things.

(04-12-2013 07:30 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  I literally despise laptops. I owned one briefly and gave it to my daughter. I will never have another one. I simply can not type on the things.

My work computer is a laptop. At work it plugs into a doscking station which ties to an outboard monitor, mouse, and keyboard. When is use it at home I also plug in a mouse and keyboard to make life easier.

(04-11-2013 04:36 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  

(04-11-2013 04:27 PM)Ninerfan1 Wrote:  

(04-11-2013 04:06 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I got my daughter a Windows/RT hybrid tablet/laptop (Dell) and Windows 8 seems like a reasonable OS for a tablet or high-end phone. It seems virtually intolerable as a desktop/laptop OS. I'm hoping the no-moving-parts aspect of it will make it survivable in her case.

I'm honestly surprised there is still a market for desktops at all.

I prefer them because they're far easier to upgrade or repair. Want to improve your graphics card? Just slap a new one in and you're done.

That's why I upgraded my PC rather than get a laptop. Only cost around $300 to upgrade the PC to what I need.

(04-12-2013 08:14 AM)smn1256 Wrote:  

(04-12-2013 07:30 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  I literally despise laptops. I owned one briefly and gave it to my daughter. I will never have another one. I simply can not type on the things.

My work computer is a laptop. At work it plugs into a doscking station which ties to an outboard monitor, mouse, and keyboard. When is use it at home I also plug in a mouse and keyboard to make life easier.

That is the only option I would consider.

(04-12-2013 07:03 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  The crux of it is, for personal internet usage, people no longer use desktops and laptops, they use cell phones and tablets. If you aren't surfing the net on your computer much, less chance you are going to get a virus and have to replace it. Microsoft's problem I don't think is Windows 8, but the failure to beat Apple and Android manufacturers to the cell phone and tablet market.

Yea, because you can't pwn a Windows Phone or an iPhone or an Android amirite? Security on cell phones and tablets IS MUCH WORSE than regular computers. Give me 5 minutes alone with your iPad, in "locked" mode, and I can have the entire contents of it. You aren't safe on Android or Blackberry either.

(04-12-2013 07:11 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  Disagree. They are cheap, have plenty of memory, and with cloud computing, plenty useful for all of your music and movies. They are perfect for anyone that uses their computer for surfing, reading, and storing files, which is the vast majority of people outside of work. They are useless for gaming geeks or graphic design, but all that most people need. I got a Kindle Fire HD 9" for Christmas. Wife paid $200 for it. It took a few days to figure out how to get around the Amazon proprietary crap and to get Flash and apps available on Google Play, but now I can honestly say it does everything I need a personal computer to do.

Plenty of memory? I've got 12 GB in my desktop. Find me a tablet or smartphone at any price with even half that much RAM. Also, I consider the cloud the most overrated farce in IT today, particularly for consumer use.

"So I'm backing up all my stuff to the cloud. I'm streaming my music from the cloud. I'm watching my movies from the cloud on Netflix and Vudu isn't this great?"
--- "Because a 1 TB hard drive for $50 is too much? Because you want to decide whether or not you'd want to stream Netflix OR backup because your data cap won't allow both? Because you like the idea of a third party provider having all your info and NEVER losing it? Because you like the idea of being able to do nothing unless you have a good internet connection? Because the RIAA and MPAA are grinning ear to ear at you no longer holding physical copies of anything so they can arbitrarily change digital formats and demand you repurchase everything to play content again or simply have you pay a big flat fee forever and never truly own a copy of your purchase to consume how you see fit?"

But they are cheap. And you're getting what you pay for. Only in the insane world of tablet land is copy and paste a non-necessary feature. </Crapple>

Quote:Yea, because you can't pwn a Windows Phone or an iPhone or an Android amirite? Security on cell phones and tablets IS MUCH WORSE than regular computers. Give me 5 minutes alone with your iPad, in "locked" mode, and I can have the entire contents of it. You aren't safe on Android or Blackberry either.

I have gone through 3 PCs at work in the last 2 years due to trojans and viruses. I have been using Android for personal computing for almost 3 years and have never gotten one. Yeah, it wouldn't be hard to get all my files if I gave you my tablet or phone, but I guess it is how you define "security".

Quote:Plenty of memory? I've got 12 GB in my desktop. Find me a tablet or smartphone at any price with even half that much RAM.

To each according to his needs. I have no need for anymore memory or RAM on my phone or tablet. If you need more, than you probably made the right choice. Considering you are running this website, I doubt a tablet will be any use for you. All I am saying is it is all the average end user needs. There will always be a large market for PCs, but it is not as large as it once was because, outside of work, the average Joe no longer needs one.

(04-12-2013 09:16 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  I have gone through 3 PCs at work in the last 2 years due to trojans and viruses.

Why are you getting new computers because of a virus? Is you can't resolve the virus issue then doma clean reinstall of Windows. If all else fails, then FORMAT C:

A virus won't do anything to the physical computer itself.