Re: the above about people always wanting desktop PCs because you can't do it all on a tablet/phone (which isn't entirely true - again, some developing markets have phone apps and services that do everything simply because that's all people have. I know of one African Bank that lets people do everything via SMS!). I get this - this is why I also mentioned dumb terminals with cloud services.
OnLive, for example, already offer a games console streamed over the web and now offer desktops too. All you need for that is a screen and a keyboard and you get the newest, highest-spec, maintenance-free version of everything, all the time.
Look at where we were 10 years ago compared to today. In 10 years time, probably less, we'll have a large screen in the lounge, maybe a smaller "desktop" screen in an office and probably a tablet of some form and a phone of some form. What's onscreen will be transferrable between the screens instantaneously, storage will be cloud based, maybe with local backup if you want it (or vice versa). All you'll need is a keyboard for when you want to do more "in depth" computing.
And the key point is, there's no reason whatsoever any of that needs to run Windows. None. People (well, most people) have *never* bought Windows because they simply like Windows, they bought it because it enabled them to do what they actually wanted to do - be it write a letter, play a game, (later) browse the web, fill in a spreadsheet, run an app. If they can do all those things without Windows, and further it's cheaper, less hassle to do it and upgrade-proof without Windows, why would they specifically pay for a Windows PC to take up space in their home and slowly become more obsolete?
Apple know this is where it's going - that's why full screen mirroring is in the iPad and iPhone via Apple TV and why you can set up an iPad or iPhone without even owing a computer to tie it back to and back it up online via iCloud. Hook up an iPad via mirroring to a TV with a BT keyboard - you've got a big-screen computer that can do pretty much most of the things the average home user needs a computer to do. PCs as we know them will become more specialist kit for hardcore gamers and/or programmers and the market will continue to shrink. And as that market shrinks, and shrinks ever more quickly, MS will see its traditional cash cows of Windows and Office begin to dry up. Which is why they need new revenue streams and new approaches.
Like I said, MS need to stay relevant and that's the real challenge, not trying to make people stick to the status quo with a new lick of paint. Windows 8 looks like a step in the right direction - especially the ARM version. The question remains whether it's a step that's big enough and one that people buy into.
OnLive, for example, already offer a games console streamed over the web and now offer desktops too. All you need for that is a screen and a keyboard and you get the newest, highest-spec, maintenance-free version of everything, all the time.
Look at where we were 10 years ago compared to today. In 10 years time, probably less, we'll have a large screen in the lounge, maybe a smaller "desktop" screen in an office and probably a tablet of some form and a phone of some form. What's onscreen will be transferrable between the screens instantaneously, storage will be cloud based, maybe with local backup if you want it (or vice versa). All you'll need is a keyboard for when you want to do more "in depth" computing.
And the key point is, there's no reason whatsoever any of that needs to run Windows. None. People (well, most people) have *never* bought Windows because they simply like Windows, they bought it because it enabled them to do what they actually wanted to do - be it write a letter, play a game, (later) browse the web, fill in a spreadsheet, run an app. If they can do all those things without Windows, and further it's cheaper, less hassle to do it and upgrade-proof without Windows, why would they specifically pay for a Windows PC to take up space in their home and slowly become more obsolete?
Apple know this is where it's going - that's why full screen mirroring is in the iPad and iPhone via Apple TV and why you can set up an iPad or iPhone without even owing a computer to tie it back to and back it up online via iCloud. Hook up an iPad via mirroring to a TV with a BT keyboard - you've got a big-screen computer that can do pretty much most of the things the average home user needs a computer to do. PCs as we know them will become more specialist kit for hardcore gamers and/or programmers and the market will continue to shrink. And as that market shrinks, and shrinks ever more quickly, MS will see its traditional cash cows of Windows and Office begin to dry up. Which is why they need new revenue streams and new approaches.
Like I said, MS need to stay relevant and that's the real challenge, not trying to make people stick to the status quo with a new lick of paint. Windows 8 looks like a step in the right direction - especially the ARM version. The question remains whether it's a step that's big enough and one that people buy into.
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