Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few years, then you’ve probably stumbled across the occasional article which claims that “The PC Is Dead!”
Those articles cite declining sales figures for desktop computers and definitively state that the PC is dead or dying.
Today, I’m going to refute those people and explain why, exactly, the PC isn’t dead. It’s just evolving. Here are 5 reasons why I think that PCs are still going to be a major factor today, tomorrow, and ten years down the road:
5) PC gamers
PC gaming is far from dead. In fact, PC gaming is a major reason why PCs are still alive. You can’t play the latest and greatest PC games without a PC. No matter which smartphone, laptop, or tablet you buy, you won’t be able to play some of today’s best PC games at maxed out graphics without buying a beefy rig.
Yes, consoles are a major competitor to PC gaming. But there are always going to be advantages to PC gaming, including more customizable graphics, support for more peripherals, and of course, amazing mods.
Between 4K monitors and Oculus Rift, I see lots of potential growth for PC gaming in the upcoming future.
4) 4K
4K is the reason why some people say the PC is going to die. I, however, believe it’s a reason why the PC is going to live. To experience the world’s best 4K gaming, you’re going to need a PC. Even if you’re not a gamer, you’ll need lots of processing power and RAM to take full advantage of multiple 4K monitors. That’s a lot of pixels for a computer to process, and if you don’t have a PC, your computer will not be able to handle 4K anything very smoothly.
3) Microsoft isn’t going away any time soon
Microsoft has so much capital that it could make three consecutive bad operating systems without worrying about its future as a company. It’s been the world’s largest software company for multiple decades for a reason.
Despite the recent failure of Windows 8 and the minimal market share of Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has some amazing potential and a vision for the future. Don’t count them out yet: all it takes is one strong operating system with Windows 9 or Windows X and we may never talk about the death of the PC again.
2) People who do actual work
Whether you’re an engineer, a CEO, or just an office lackey, most of the real world’s work gets done on PCs. It doesn’t matter if you use Microsoft Word or some other word processing program: you need special software to get work done. You can run Excel and AutoCAD on mobile devices, but if you’re serious about getting work done, then you need a full-fledged PC with all its processing power, keyboards, mice, etc.
Yes, the creative types can have their fancy tablets and Apple computers, but PCs are an absolute requirement for many essential office tasks.
1) Wearable computers and portable computers
When people talk about the death of the PC, they often reference poor sales figures for traditional PCs, which are the standup tower-style PCs you’ve seen in homes and offices for years.
Nobody is disputing that these sales are going down. However, that doesn’t mean that the PC as a whole is dying. Instead of buying traditional PCs, consumers are buying wearable PCs, tablet PCs, and portable PCs. PCs come in all shapes and sizes, and recent sales figures have demonstrated that fact more than ever.
PCs aren’t dead or dying. They’re just changing. They’re evolving to meet new tech trends. While sales of “traditional” PCs go down, sales of other types of computers go up. We’re going to be okay, PC fans. Don’t you worry.
