All iPads Will Tablets Resurrect The Desktop Computer?

[kristalsoldier]

Perhaps you don't realize that the PC industry sales dived after introduction of iPad?

That would be a rather simplistic way to understand the global economic and financial condition. Sure, the introduction of tablets (notably, the iPad) did play a role, but that is not the singular and/ or only or even the major reason as to why the PC industry has suffered in the recent past.

 

[smirking]

Perhaps you don't realize that the PC industry sales dived after introduction of iPad?

I'm sure the OP understands this quite well. He was posing a very counterintuitive, but plausible question. I for one certainly see it as a possibility. No, I don't expect to see the the golden age of triple fan cooled towers come back, but there may be some demand for a non-mobile (or at least a semi-stationary) computer to be paired with tablet devices.

I have a MBP, but I use it like a desktop. It rarely leaves my office. If I need something on the go, I usually bring my iPad. Still, I like the option of having the ability to grab my laptop and take it with me if I need to leave on a trip or get some work done out of the office. It easily made sense for me to buy a laptop even though I wasn't planning on taking it with me most of the time. Outfitted with a 1TB SSD drive, it's as fast as the previous generation of MacPros and it was worth the modest premium in the price to get something that would give me the option of portability.

In a few years, if the tablet has done to laptops what it did to netbooks then the few laptops we'll have left will suffer from having a much smaller market and may become a lot less price competitive. That could change some people's minds about buying a laptop if most of the time it'll just stay in the same room. This would open the door for a "desktop like" solution that fills in the gaps that tablet computing leaves behind.

 

[MyiBill]

^^right I understand that tablets have canablized computer sales, but I think that has more to do with people buying a tablet instead of a new computer at that moment, they will still need a new computer eventually and if they have the portability they need in a tablet they might instead pick the desktop which is likely cheaper and has a bigger screen then the laptop. I guess I see the desktop acting more of a personal cloud/server for the tablets that also provide power when needed.

 

[rowspaxe]

I dont see much advantage of a desktop over a laptop for all but the highest end workstation or gaming needs. I use a laptop and never leaves my home--but does move from room to room on occassion. I think tablets are excellent complementary devices, but not laptop/desktop replacements. I think the surface pro with dock is an edge case--but its really more of a laptop.

Imo--the rise of the tablet has a lot to do with price points. At 3-6 hundred dollors--they are fun impulse buys for consumers looking for something new while viewing their pcs as "good enough".

Eventually consumers will turn over their aging pcs. Ironically, win 8 was an attempt spur consumers to upgrade but was so unpopular it ended up creating more market inertia.

 

[thelookingglass]

Doubt it. Tablets aren't powerful enough for many people to be a primary device when traveling. And the gap between powerful laptops and desktops is so minor now that it just makes sense to get a laptop over a desktop just in case you need the extra portability.