Death Of The Pc

Record: 1
DEATH of the PC. By: CASTALDO, JOE. Canadian Business, 10/25/2010, Vol. 83
Issue 17, p44-49, 5p, 7 Color Photographs; Abstract: This article examines the
future prospects of personal computers (PCs) in the computer industry. Dave
Codack of TD Bank Financial Group explains their transition from PCs to virtual
PCs. It notes that the need for a PC's processing power is affected by thepush
toward cloud computing and virtualization. It cites Apple and Google as dominant
players in the new mobile marketplace. It also cites tablets as another threat to the
PC's dominance. Industry experts predict that most people will access the Internet or
cloud-based applications via other devices.; (AN 54485988)
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DEATH of the PCDesktops and notebooks are losing their central role on our computing stage--and they may drag
the PC establishment down with them
For at least 30 years, our notion of a personal computer has been fairly consistent. Aside from a
monitor, a keyboard and a mouse, our PCs have been stocked with ever larger hard drives for storing
applications and fill's, and ever faster processors to run thoseapplications smoothly. The form has
evolved--from the desktop to the notebook to its stripped-down cousin, the netbook--but the general
principles have remained the same.
Now, however, the future of the PC is looking bleak. Consider a recent pilot project by TD Bank
Financial Group, in which the company replaced 250 of its PCs with "thin clients," devices that can
barely be called computers. Mostof the guts--the processing power and storage capacity--are gone.
The intensive computing work is instead handled by a server farm, and each client machine is linked to
that remote horsepower via a connector box. No software resides on thin clients, which is why they're
often referred to as virtual PCs. For TD, the devices promise many benefits. "The overriding element is
cost," explains DaveCodack, head of employee technology and network services. Not only are they
cheaper over the long run, they are easier to maintain. TD is rolling out 10,000 virtual PCs over the next
two years in its headquarters and retail branches. And the bank is hardly alone. Millions of virtual PCs
are already installed in corporate offices and university campuses, and their numbers are projected to
growsteadily.
While virtual PCs threaten the established computer industry in the corporate space, consumers are
relying more on new mobile devices than on their PCs. Take the iPad from Apple--a touch-screen
device more portable than a laptop, and with a radically different user interface. In late September, a
Wall Street Journal article paraphrased Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn as saying the iPad hadcannibalized
sales of laptops at the retailer by as much as 50%. The article sparked debate among tech pundits
about whether the iPad was slaying the PC after just a few months on the market. Best Buy quickly
equivocated, stating in a press release that reports of notebook and netbook demise were
overreactions. However, according to Forrester Research, tablets will make up almost a quarter ofall
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computing devices in the U.S. within five years, up from just 6% this year.
These days, more and more people are talking of the "post-PC" era. The excitement, innovation and
major growth have all shifted from personal computers to smart-phones, tablets and virtual PCs.
Growingwireless connectivity will soon enable us to use these devices just about anywhere, and the
push toward cloud computing and virtualization--in which software and files are stored on servers or the
Internet, not locally on desktops--further erodes the need for a PC's processing power. As computing
goes mobile, it's ushering in a shift toward more specialized devices. Instead of using a PC for...