It will be very interesting to see the final results of this poll because I have seen a lot articles and comments about tablets and of course it seems to be the future device that all will be using.
I wouldn't consider tablets 'hurting' PC sales. It is just the trend of technology going to smaller and smaller products. Just as laptops have gone towards netbooks.
You're right Nemos, I am curious to know the result. Although so far, voting appears to be in tablet’s favour. I lean more towards laptop & desktop pc.
PC has its own value. Tablet can not replace PC although it is handy. It is a mobile technology because of the weight and portability.Many end users who really need to use it for daily activities will enjoy the usage. We are still in the era when many people are still conservative, and resist change to ways of life.
Kunmi, -- Resisting change to new ways of life is equivalent to saying that innovation and progress have no room in the advancement of technology because, in fact, there would be no such advancement.
The capacity to adapt to changes in order to evolve is within the nature of any being on this planet. Who can't adapt can't survive and/or stays behind.
Tablets are for certain needs and uses and are not in the market to replace PCs or laptops. Not yet.
Tablets cannot replace the PC until it can do everything the PC can do ... like print a document and hook up to a projector! They ARE canibalising Netbooks but the PC? No way. PC sales are down for a completely different set of reasons, part of which being that PCs are now so boring thanks to MS not developing (or allowing others to develop) any seriously good new applications so the gee whizz factor has gone.
Malcolm, -- MS has not developed anything new for a very long time. PCs are boring because they keep on giving more problems than solutions and there has not been any interesting innovation.
PCs are experiencing sales problems simply because they are not practical and useful for the new user. By new user I mean the user who needs a device anytime and anywhere he/she is.
The practicality and portability of the laptop, netbook and tablet is what is killing the PC. I wouldn't consider buying a PC for anything. There is simply no use for having a piece of equipment that can only be used in one sigle place.
People who have been planning to buy a netbook are now thinking again to buy a tablet instead. It is more of tablet vs. netbook rather than tablet vs. pc.
@Malcolm:I agree with you that tablet is not ready yet to put PC out of market.
I feel tablet is yet to be able to excecute all its functions without PC coming in.
For almost all the developing countries, PC is still the main thing while Tablets are flowing in but much more expensive and gaining little acceptance.
If tablet is to be able to do all what PC can do today, will the portability be there?
I feel tablet is more of a mobile thing while PC still do the homework.
No IT manager worth his salt would ever let a Tablet (or i-anything) anywhere near a corporate network; the security risks are just simply too high. Tablets do NOT replace PCs, they are a new product entirely ... speaking of them in the same breath is like comparing a video and a still camera. Gartner ought to know better than this.
@Malcolm, I tend to agree with you, tablets are not a PC replacement. They can be a compliment, or a supplement, and there are very few instances where an IT person will take away somebody's PC or Laptop and just give them a tablet.
Now tablet sales may certainly surge because they're new and cool, but I very much doubt many people are buying tablets and throwing away their old PC's. As you say, they're two different things.
I think PC will remain core computational and general purpose device in world of technology. It seems very difficult for any newer or emerging techno-device to shove PC aside.
One notable area PC is commonly being used - Network Environment.
Am still wondering about functionality of tablet to servicing networked computers - ie SERVER COMPUTER. Can tablet carries out server tasks which PC has been handling for ages housing many service applications in clustering and pool of computers? Many enterprises today use PC to deploy network services distribution - security application, file sharing etc.
1 - Military cluster computer laboratory
2 - Universities
3 - Banks
4 - Governmental agencies
5 - Research institution's laboratories, and many more to come in backend/frontend networked environments.
Do we foresee tablet as possible replacement to PC to excellently performing well in this area?
Yes,It's not going to happen anytime soon(or ever).Because tablets are good but they're far behind desktops/laptops in terms of raw power and performance.
Tablets didn't come to replace either laptops or desktops. Tablets are for different needs and uses and have the power and performance for those needs and uses only. They can't be compared. It would be like comparing apples and tomatos.
Susan, i also share the same opinion as yours. Although tablets are creating their own market but they are eating share of netbooks. Until and unless tablets become as powerful as PC or laptops they cannot replace them. The reason for slipping sales might be due to other reasons such as those people who perfer cheaper alternative of laptop might be going for tablets.
Though tablet can not replace PC, it will sell like wild fire because of its accessibilty, affordability and portability. At least it will meet the need of so many businesses that needs data processing off office. Students in colleges will find it very useful. Hand loggage is being cut to something lighter and easier to carry. What a good impact!
Exactly, Himanshugupta. Tablets may become even more popular and in more demand than netbooks. I have noticed this tendency lately in some seminars and conferences. This made me wonder if netbooks are in their way out of the market in a near future.
Yes,Tablets might take over the market or I should say they have already started taking it over,but when portability is concerned, you need a device that combines portability with sturdiness and thats again where a netbook scores over a tablet...However Netbooks will be a great choice for people who want a durable mini laptop and who need a keyboard for doing most of the work...
Yes, electronics, that's true. I still like my netbook and find it useful. These wars of devices are sometimes created more by consumers than by manufacturers.
Currently,having a desktop and a tablet is a good combination but tablets can't replace desktops unless you only do web-surfing,checking mails and listening to music and you are OK to use a smaller screen as your primary display.
" ...unless you only do web-surfing,checking mails and listening to music and you are OK to use a smaller screen as your primary display."
You are forgetting about all the people who need a device on the road, when traveling and carrying a desktop would be too much of a hazard or even a laptop, for that matter. Either a netbook or a tablet fulfills those needs aforementioned and those are the only uses someone who needs a device on the road needs and wants. It's also a matter of personal preference.
If you want to compare the a tablet with another device then comparing with netbooks would be a little more appropriate. Then we should look at other functions (being the main difference having a keyboard or a touch screen) and at the end, come up to the same conclusion: a tablet came to the market to fulfill certain needs that certain people have, not to compete or replace any other device.
Thanks for the information. I did not know the impact of the tablet sales on the PC's. But based on this information, my idea to replace my PC with a tablet even though I do way more than surfing the net will definitely change and I will keep the PC.
In todays scenario i dont think Tablet can be on top, for me its just an add on device i use them to read some documents and for surfing. Always i prefer my PC for lot more other stuff. it will take some time for tablets to completely replace PC probably afer two three next gen products are out.
electronic 862, I absolutely agree with you. The only advantage over the laptop is the portability. This feature will attract a lot of customers and it will make it sell like wild fire but it can never replace the laptops/desktops
I don't think the tablet will replace the laptop, that laptop has more features and is more versatile than a tablet. I would have to agree a tablet is more for reading than every day use especially when most people with a laptop use it for business use and the tablets do not have those capabilities yet.
Tablet as the name implies, can not replace PC. It is a great resource that may be widely accepted as the ipads. Laptops will remain in its unsurpass funtionality.
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