Quote:
Originally Posted by wizwor
I do not think this is the case. Computers with keyboards and mice continue to sell well. The story here is that the tablet has become a commodity. Prices and awareness reflect that. Everyone has touched one and prices are so low that everyone can afford one. If anything, this points to the failure of the cell phone to satisfy the mobile, content consumption and communications device.
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Can't agree here. There are tons of laptops and towers at or lower than the price of an iPad—the top selling tablet by far—so commoditization doesn't seem to be the decisive factor. It's not like Kindle Fires are outselling netbooks, at least as far as we can tell.
Before the advent of tablets and modern smartphones (post-iOS/Android), consumers had to use a desktop or laptop computer to surf the web, consume streaming content, manage email and social networks, play games, etc.; none of these tasks inherently requires a PC, which is basically a workstation. A desktop OS introduces a lot of overhead for non-work uses: addtional boot time, file management, power management (which can be as simple as finding an outlet in a cafe), virus protection, and so on. A tablet with a mobile OS bypasses all of this.
I wouldn't argue for a second that PCs are obsolescent, but their role outside of production environments will continue to decline in favor or more specialized devices.