Philosophy
It was going to happen. Will you miss the external components, mass of wires and cables, the weight, the space it occupies?
"Era of the PC 'coming to a close'"
August 11th, 2011
BBC NEWS
PCs are going the way of typewriters, vinyl records and vacuum tubes, one of the engineers who worked on the original machine has said.
The claim was made in a blog post commemorating 30 years since the launch of the first IBM personal computer.
No longer, said Dr Mark Dean, are PCs the leading edge of computing.
No single device has taken the PC's place, he said, instead it has been replaced by the socially-mediated innovation it has fostered.
While IBM was not the first to produce a personal computer, the launch of the 5150 on 12 August 1981 established standards and a design around which many desktop machines have since been built.
'Powerful impact'
"When I helped design the PC, I didn't think I'd live long enough to witness its decline," wrote Dr Dean, an IBM engineer who worked on the development of the 5150 and owns three of the nine patents for it.
He revealed that he had already moved into the post-PC era as his primary computer was now a tablet.
Dr Dean does not deny that PCs will still be "much used" in the future but are no longer the force for innovation they once were.
Instead, he said, it was the interaction they enable that was driving efficiencies in the workplace and changes in society.
"It's becoming clear that innovation flourishes best not on devices but in the social spaces between them, where people and ideas meet and interact," he wrote.
He added: "It is there that computing can have the most powerful impact on economy, society and people's lives."
Microsoft also marked the anniversary of the unveiling of the 5150 with a blog considering the changes it had brought about.
Instead of talking about a post-PC era, Microsoft's Frank Shaw said the near future should be regarded as a PC-plus era given that more than 400 million personal computers are set to be sold in 2011.
Personal use of computers had spread beyond a desktop machine to game consoles, mobiles and on screens all around us, said Mr Shaw.
The future will see billions more going online and reaping the benefits of closer contact with computers, he said.
The changes initiated by the PC was "just getting started," he added.
- Deceased--willis Ware
Willis Ware August 31st, 1920 to November 22nd, 2013 "Willis Ware, 93, Engineer at Dawn of Computer Age, Dies" by John Markoff December 1st, 2013 The New York Times Willis H. Ware, an electrical engineer who in the late 1940s helped build a machine...
- Deceased--douglas C. Engelbart
Douglas C. Engelbart January 30th, 1925 to July 2nd, 2013 "Computer Visionary Who Invented the Mouse" by John Markoff July 3rd, 2013 The New York Times Douglas C. Engelbart was 25, just engaged to be married and thinking about his future when he had an...
- Quantum Computer To Usc
Once all of unit's bugs are fixed, this will be a revolution in computing "USC receives first quantum computer" by Rachel Bracker October 30th, 2011 Daily Trojan USC on Friday became the first academic institution to house an operational quantum...
- Deceased--henry Edward Roberts
Henry Edward Roberts September 13th, 1941 to April 1st, 2010 "H. Edward Roberts, PC Pioneer, Dies at 68" by Steve Lohr April 2nd, 2010 The New York Times Not many people in the computer world remembered H. Edward Roberts, not after he walked away from...
- Reboot The Ole "witch"
"Britain’s Oldest Working Computer Roars to Life" by Priya Ganapati September 4th, 2009 Wired The oldest original working computer in the U.K., which has been in storage for nearly 30 years, is getting restored to its former glory. The Harwell...
Philosophy
Standard PCs are to be fossilized
It was going to happen. Will you miss the external components, mass of wires and cables, the weight, the space it occupies?
"Era of the PC 'coming to a close'"
August 11th, 2011
BBC NEWS
PCs are going the way of typewriters, vinyl records and vacuum tubes, one of the engineers who worked on the original machine has said.
The claim was made in a blog post commemorating 30 years since the launch of the first IBM personal computer.
No longer, said Dr Mark Dean, are PCs the leading edge of computing.
No single device has taken the PC's place, he said, instead it has been replaced by the socially-mediated innovation it has fostered.
While IBM was not the first to produce a personal computer, the launch of the 5150 on 12 August 1981 established standards and a design around which many desktop machines have since been built.
'Powerful impact'
"When I helped design the PC, I didn't think I'd live long enough to witness its decline," wrote Dr Dean, an IBM engineer who worked on the development of the 5150 and owns three of the nine patents for it.
He revealed that he had already moved into the post-PC era as his primary computer was now a tablet.
Dr Dean does not deny that PCs will still be "much used" in the future but are no longer the force for innovation they once were.
Instead, he said, it was the interaction they enable that was driving efficiencies in the workplace and changes in society.
"It's becoming clear that innovation flourishes best not on devices but in the social spaces between them, where people and ideas meet and interact," he wrote.
He added: "It is there that computing can have the most powerful impact on economy, society and people's lives."
Microsoft also marked the anniversary of the unveiling of the 5150 with a blog considering the changes it had brought about.
Instead of talking about a post-PC era, Microsoft's Frank Shaw said the near future should be regarded as a PC-plus era given that more than 400 million personal computers are set to be sold in 2011.
Personal use of computers had spread beyond a desktop machine to game consoles, mobiles and on screens all around us, said Mr Shaw.
The future will see billions more going online and reaping the benefits of closer contact with computers, he said.
The changes initiated by the PC was "just getting started," he added.
- Deceased--willis Ware
Willis Ware August 31st, 1920 to November 22nd, 2013 "Willis Ware, 93, Engineer at Dawn of Computer Age, Dies" by John Markoff December 1st, 2013 The New York Times Willis H. Ware, an electrical engineer who in the late 1940s helped build a machine...
- Deceased--douglas C. Engelbart
Douglas C. Engelbart January 30th, 1925 to July 2nd, 2013 "Computer Visionary Who Invented the Mouse" by John Markoff July 3rd, 2013 The New York Times Douglas C. Engelbart was 25, just engaged to be married and thinking about his future when he had an...
- Quantum Computer To Usc
Once all of unit's bugs are fixed, this will be a revolution in computing "USC receives first quantum computer" by Rachel Bracker October 30th, 2011 Daily Trojan USC on Friday became the first academic institution to house an operational quantum...
- Deceased--henry Edward Roberts
Henry Edward Roberts September 13th, 1941 to April 1st, 2010 "H. Edward Roberts, PC Pioneer, Dies at 68" by Steve Lohr April 2nd, 2010 The New York Times Not many people in the computer world remembered H. Edward Roberts, not after he walked away from...
- Reboot The Ole "witch"
"Britain’s Oldest Working Computer Roars to Life" by Priya Ganapati September 4th, 2009 Wired The oldest original working computer in the U.K., which has been in storage for nearly 30 years, is getting restored to its former glory. The Harwell...