Thursday, August 15, 2013

PCs are for Work, Other Than That, People Will Prefer Tablets, Smart Phones

Perhaps some executives in the PC industry actually believe they can build a PC that entices people to part with their smart phones or tablets. Some of us think that is a fool's errand. 

Some might say devices such as the Chromebook are designed for affordable browsing. Some of us would not agree. Browsing is what people prefer to do on other devices, when they are not working and producing large amounts of content. 

That probably has implications for the use of all the devices. A "work" device is not necessarily as "personal" a device as a smart phone, or as much fun as a tablet. Some devices (think of most devices in your kitchen or livingroom or bedroom) just have to work. You don't think about them too much. They aren't necessarily personal statements, as your clothing or jewelry or fragrance most likely are. 

And that's the issue with PCs. There's no such thing anymore as "web-centric" users. That's everybody, doing everything. 

When the PC was the only computing device, people might have been more attached to them. These days, the PC increasingly is something you use when you have to work. Most other things you'd prefer to do on a tablet or smart phone. 

That likely has implications for how much people are willing to spend on a work appliance, if they are spending their own money. 

No comments:

Many Winners and Losers from Generative AI

Perhaps there is no contradiction between low historical total factor annual productivity gains and high expected generative artificial inte...