Top 5: Reasons the Desktop Computer Will Never Die
There has been an argument on TekSocial over this past weekend, on a post regarding the death of the desktop computer. Here are my top 5 reasons of why the desktop computer will never die.
1. Gamers. The desktop computer may just be a kiosk to surf the web, check email, and use Facebook at your house, but it is much different to a select audience -- gamers. Now you may be thinking, if the desktop computer did die, then they will move over to a console like the Xbox 360. False. These are people that have been gaming on PC's since before the Counter-Strike days. They may use a gaming console, but it is not their preferred platform.
2. Professionals. Just tell me. Are you going to edit a full length feature film on a 13" MacBook with a 2.4 GHz Processor and 4gb's of RAM? You could, but it would be hell. I've edited productions around 30 minutes before on my laptop (MacBook Early 2008, 2.4GHz Intel Core2Duo, 4gb RAM) and it wasn't fun. Just rendering every time I made a change was difficult. Even with a nice machine, say 3.66GHz 8gb 15" MacBook Pro, it would be difficult to edit on a small screen and a somewhat underpowered computer. Professionals need to have large real estate (resolution) while they are working on graphic design, film production, audio, code, what ever it may be. They need a big screen and a fast computer. Desktops are bigger, therefore they are faster.
3. Power. As emphasized in the last section, you can pack more power into a desktop computer than you can on a laptop. A MacPro can fit 12 cores, 32gb of Ram and 8tb's of hard drive space. Thats pretty fast. Now I'm willing to bet that a MacPro now, is more powerful than the MacBook Pro will be for 5 years.
4. Customization. Most desktops are highly customizable these days. Again, I'm going to use the MacPro because all it takes to upgrade this machine is pop the side off and install the part yourself. This is the same for many high-end desktop models. I know that HP has one or two high-end machines, as does Dell. You can barely upgrade a laptop from the time you buy it. Most MacBook's aren't even 'openable' without an Apple technician.
5. Workflow. Although its nice to take your laptop home from work everyday, you have a much better workflow while using a desktop. Not only can you get more done, but you will not get files confused on your hard drive.
If you disagree with these reasons that the desktop computer will never die, then leave it in the comments below.
Danny Luksa Oct 17, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Reader Comments (7)
It will never die. I agree with all of these statements...
I also think that it will never die because of the uneducated computer users, or just in general the average user, who just has a desktop they use when they get home from work, to check emails and do basic tasks etc., I doubt the average joe puts much thought into there computers. When I was younger I had the same Dell computer for 10 years and never thought about laptops or anything.
I agree it will never die. Although I don't game, my desktop computer is my workspace and it gives me conditions to work that a laptop or a smartphone would never give me. In fact I recently bought my iMac over a laptop because I knew iMac fits me better. Still my iPhone has placed a computer in so many ways; email, light Internet usage, social websites, chat, are things that I'm not doing on a computer anymore because of the iPhone
I think it will die in the future or be replace.
1) external monitors, change the way we use laptops, and this conversion was attempted back in the day of docks for laptops. Even the kitchen I worked at back when I was saving to buy a car was powered by a dell laptop hooked into a dock.
2) as laptops become more and more powerful and cheaper at the same time there will possibly be a day where the laptop is as powerful as a high tier Desktop.
3) Tablets, With tablet popularity I see laptops taking the place of desktops and phones and tablets taking the place of what laptops originally did for us.
None of this may be relevant now, and i doubt it will for at least 5-10 years tops if that.
But its very possible that laptops could take the place.
I don't understand the last point about workflow, but I do agree with the rest.
@Cameron Knapp: I disagree with point 2. Though, the growth in technology is exponential, there are the negative effects to consider. As computers grow more powerful, consumers will demand quality content. Right now HD is becoming popular. Before that, computers were sufficient because the content consumed and created on them was of a lower quality. As power grows, so people will find more ways to push it.
@Habib Alamin There has to be a leveling point where we cant get any better. Where we have hit the ultimate level of HD or what ever the top quality is. We are a long ways from that, but one day it could happen.
@cameron knapp - Anyone who says that the desktop computer will die, obviously doesn't think outside the box. Becuase it's like saying that SUV's will die off too some day. Having a desktop is a preference. Many people now a days have both a laptop and a desktop. Most people actually prefer having a desktop over a laptop because you can upgrade your video cards and add more hard drives.