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The Future of Desktop PCs (and How They Can Have One)
Posted by Harry.McCracken in Notebook PC | Jan. 16, 2010 8:00 AM
Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show, I took part in the annual Build Your Own PC for Charity Race. It was a good time for a good cause, and the fact that I finished assembling my computer long after the winner did reminded me that it's been eons since I spent much time looking at the insides of a desktop computer.
Then it dawned on me that I don't really look at the outside of desktops much, either. Every PC I use on a regular basis is a laptop...which is a perfectly normal state of affairs these days. For many of us, it's desktop PCs that are the secondary, optional machines. And as mobile computers get better and better, desktops will only feel more more secondary and optional.
It's entirely possible that the desktop market will wither away over the next few years, until nearly every PC is a laptop. But it doesn't have to happen. Herewith, a few ideas on how PC manufacturers can build desktop systems that are part of personal technology's exciting future--not archaic leftovers from its past.
1. Keep the new-and-improved form factors coming. Manufacturers have been trying to build a living-room PC with mass appeal for years, and haven't succeeded yet, They should keep trying. We also need more kitchen PCs and innovative gaming rigs and boxes designed for small businesses.
2. Add more style. Today's notebooks are available in an amazing array of colors, textures, and trims, with looks ranging from classically conservative to fashion forward. There's something for everyone. Desktops aimed at gamers certainly show some pizazz, but there are lots of run-of-the-mill desktops that are...run of the mill. If PC manufacturers sprung the designers who are responsible for their laptops on their desktop lines, things would get more interesting really quickly.
3. Improve input. The average desktop computer comes with a keyboard and mouse that are blah at best. And some are downright flimsy and unappealing. Why not tempt PC buyers to opt for a desktop with sturdier, comfier, more innovative input devices--ones that would be impossible to build into a notebook? If QWERTY keyboards start to vanish from mobile computers, there'd be all the more reason to make them a key feature of desktop systems.
4. Increase screen appeal. With laptops, trying to cram multiple screens into one computer is an inherently Quixotic idea. But a desktop can sport two, three, or more high-resolution displays--and with the price of monitors these days, a multi-screen PC doesn't have to be a luxury item. PC manufacturers could build some really interesting machines if they designed them from the ground up to accommodate as many pixels as possible.
5. Make always-on connectivity a major selling point. Notebooks, pretty much by definition, spend much of their time turned off. Desktops, on the other hand, can stay on and online continuously. So there's no reason why they can't start to take on server-like capabilities. How about turning them into media hubs that let get to all our music and video from any Internet-connected device?
6. Keep them quiet, cool, and efficient. I've owned desktops that sounded like they had jet engines inside, and which did horrible things to my electricity bill. But all the advanced power-related technologies going into today's mobile computers can help make desktops more pleasant to own and use, too. And as desktops show up in the living room and kitchen, it's particularly important that they not be noisy, power-sucking monsters.
I last bought a desktop PC three years ago. My guess is that I'll never buy another one--but it would be kind of neat if one came along that was just plain irresistable.
Are you still a desktop fan? Why or why not? And if you've stopped buying desktops, what could PC manufacturers do to get you intrigued again?
"It's entirely possible that the desktop market will wither away over the next few years..."
I totally agree with you and am horrified by what I see. As with iPhone/iTouch/iPad and their sellphone clones, we are being herded towards that wonderful "cloud computing" empire the media moguls have dreamed about for years where you have a virtual dumb graphical terminal in your hands that requires you to pay large, recurring "fees" or other money grubbing scams to keep "active" because if it's not "online and activated" it will be dead. You'll be running programs on the cloud and the cloud will be feeding you graphical output WITHOUT your ever being in a position to STORE or POSSESS anything of value in an offline condition. You'll be constantly forced to "subscribe" to maintain some illusion that you are in control of everything it does from storing your kids' birthday party pictures to word processing to browsing to playing any kind of media. Fail to PAY, PAY, PAY your various subscriptions will result in instantly losing all access to your cloud computing life.
Computing will finally become like iPad, one huge BOX OFFICE in your living room, in your briefcase and in your pocket...just as Jobs and the rest of them have dreamed of for decades....
I have to say that as of current, i will never own a laptop. They do have good uses such as anyone who has to travel for their business or people in college who would rather do school work outside or on their lunch break. But with todays technology in small portable HHD's and flash drives (now getting up to 16Gb and larger), i don't see much other use for them. Just store the info you want to bring to a friends house on the flash drive or portable HHD and off you go. The other down side to laptops in my opinion are the uncomfortable amount of heat they gereate on your lap (which also blocks alot ofthe heat vents while they are on a soft surface) and the extremly uncomfortablr keyboards. They are just to small and make it way to easy to hit the wrong key cause of how close they are to each other. Slot of people that i see with laptops say they have it so they can looksomething up on the internet whenever they want. With todays advancements in cellphones.... the internet is in your pocket now.... not in a bag in your car begging to get stolen when you're not using it. So as i stated before, the only people that i see that would benefit from a laptop are traveling business people or possibly students.
Thought #2: Future of desktop
1) Shrink everything. Keep the add-on slots /flex/configurability but make it all small and still able to supplementary cool if nec
2) Design ground up all peripherals wireless, incl monitor
3) More like a server, now that everything in work area is wireless (even the monitor)anyone can connect to MotherDesktop and she runs a diff session for each user. HUGE capacities RAM/storage/diskburn/CPU but MotherDesk tucks into a bookshelf, while users just have kbd/mon mouse/disk and a soda. Thanks for your patience w/two posts btw. GC
Desktop advantages:
1)More horsepower at the top end, few heat problems
2)General sturdiness
3)Add/remove/upgrade devices video/audio/tv/wireless/usb3 etc - no limit but slots. Usually can get more memory in it too.
4)Ever put your feet up on the desk to type? I do. Wireless kbd/mouse & I'm kicked back blogging without an oven in my lap.
5)Monitor. You can change it. Use your 60" HDTV across the room, you're on couch w/wireless kbd/mse. OK laptops output to HDTV now too. But where's the kbd? Over there w/TV. Sure, hook up ext wireless kbd/mse. Laptops dont like it and even so: wanna unplug everything to make it mobile again? sheesh.
5)More bang for the buck. I can cram more stuff in a 600 box than most laptops can dream of. Easier/cheaper to fix too. Ever break off the power port/ pin inside a laptop? Total disassembly, a week in the shop and 300 bux. Power problem desktop: $49 do it yourself.
No comparison. Flexibility, convenience, power and value.
Laptops and desktops may be at war with one another but the landscape of battle is changing. That's why a merging of the best qualities of the two or some middle ground computer is tantalizing.
Good feedback, everyone!
I agree that always-on connectivity is a big advantage for desktop computers. Most laptop batteries can not last long, and for families having a living room PC is more useful.
PCs have lots of possibilities which small laptops can not offer still so the question is will this price and possibilities gap disappear or widen.
I'm typing this on a laptop (although one plugged into a docking bay with a full-sized keyboard and monitor), but my second computer, bought only last summer, is a desktop. I think they both have uses.
When people ask me if they should get a desktop or laptop, I run down all of the advantages of each, and let them decide. The advantages of laptops are self-evident, but desktops have a lot going for them, as well:
* Desktops offer a much better price/power ratio.
* Because they're made of off-the-shelf components, they're easier to upgrade.
* They're harder to steal.
* They're less likely to be damaged, and when they are, they're easier and cheaper to repair.
Hadn't even thought about a desktop in a very long time, but the release of the 27 inch imac and the need for a new TV was the perfect storm. What a screen! (Ok if you're used to a 50inch beast it is smaller.. but it is nicer than the 32 inch Sony it replaced) It's now pride of place in the living room, running eyeTV on full screen, except when it turns into a very powerful computer (usually with the tv still running in the top left hand corner...), and it is now acting as the multimedia one stop box for the house.