The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones
I've <i>felt</i> this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems.<p>When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its <i>just plain hard</i> to be disappointed with anything new.<p>I think I can pinpoint when this happened - It was the SSD. Getting an SSD was the last upgrade I ever needed.<p>~~~<p>Above that, PCs aren't necessary for a lot of people, because people do not need $2000 Facebook and email machines. For the median person, if you bought a PC in 2006, then got an iPad (as a gift or for yourself) and started using it a lot, you might find that you stopped turning on your PC. How could you justify the price of a new one then?<p>Yet if there was a major cultural shift to just tablets (which are great devices in their own right), I would be very worried. It's hard(er) to create new content on a tablet, and I don't really want that becoming the default computer for any generation.<p>I think its extremely healthy to have the lowest bar possible to go from "Hey I like that" to "Can I do that? Can I make it myself?"<p>I think its something hackers, especially those with children should ask themselves: Would I still be me, if I had grown up around primarily content consumption computing devices instead of more general purpose laptops and desktops?<p>Tablets are knocking the sales off of low-end PCs, but we as a society <i>need</i> the cheap PC to remain viable, if we want to turn as many children as possible into creators, engineers, tinkerers, and hackers.