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There’s been a much reported view of late via Dr. Mark Dean, who had a hand in the design of the original IBM PC, that we’re moving into a post PC world where the desktop computer will join typewriters, incandescent lightbulbs and a handful of other consumer items that have passed the peak of their usefulness.
Some say that the desktop computer is suitable for creators of content but today many are either just consumers of content and mobile ones at that or are inputters of data. There are many who still use typewriters and listen to vinyl (which has even enjoyed a resurgence of late) and just this week a music group released their material on VHS tape (OK that’s just nostalgia for a past they never experienced similar to the rise in small music labels that release music on compact cassette only).
These items have moved from the mainstream to the niche.Few are ever truly dead. Maybe the desktop computer will move to a similar position. The home server for those that prefer not to trust the cloud? The dusty home of digital memories?
Surely it’s just evolving. Formats and form factors change and old habits die hard.
Vacuum tube image by jeua under this creative commons licence
Vinyl record image by SPazzø under this creative commons licence
Compact cassette image by Herr Popp under this creative commons licence
Typewriters image by donovanbeeson under this creative commons licence
Lightbulb image by Anton Fomkin under this creative commons licence
VHS tape image by Paul Mayne under this creative commons licence
‘Obsolete’ computer image by aliwest44 under this creative commons licence
