Topic: Does HP's departure from the PC market signal the end of PC's?

HP is exiting the mobile hardware market (tablets and smartphones), and they want to exit the PC market (by selling it to another company). Does this signal the end of PC's? Will tablets, in their current state, eventually replace PC's and laptops?

I really hope not. iOS is a controlled operating system, and Apple limits the programs you can download to just the ones from it's App Stores. You can't download whatever you want, from wherever you want. This severely limits the iPad's functionality and customization.

Compare this to a PC/laptop. On a Windows or Mac computer, I can download whatever program I want from any website, and there are no company-imposed limits or governance restricting what I do.

I've never used Android, so I won't comment on that.

Now I have a question... Do the Windows tablets use the standard PC operating system? Or do they use a proprietary one? If they use the PC OS, then do they give you the same freedom as a PC (download anything from anywhere, customization, etc.)?

Another thing that limits tablets is you can't upgrade the internal hardware. With the quick progression of tablet hardware, it would be a pain to replace your entire tablet every couple years just to run the latest software or OS. With a PC and laptop, all you have to do is replace the CPU, RAM, hard drive, and GPU.

Tablets are so far behind PC's in terms of functionality that it will take years for them to catch up to where PC's are today.

Would you welcome a future where all computing devices are tablets? Would you be happy that you no longer have the freedom to do whatever you want, and are limited to ridiculous download restrictions? I'm specifically referring to Apple's iOS devices, since those are the ones I am most familiar with, and they're the most popular.

Nope.
One company means nothing in a market as big as this.
I hope Computer Desktops and Laptops never get replaced tablets, I like to think tablets are the new netbook.
I'm also not a fan of touch screen computing, I'll stick with my mouse thank you.

Sure, why not? Next question!

Does Tendoboy annoy everyone with meaningless threads?

This thread is not meaningless, Tendoboy has provided several reasons of which we can discuss for eternity
And IOS is far too restricted, Jailbreaking for the win

Geesh No one can take a joke. ;P

And IMO just cause one company decided to leave the PC market it doesnt mean the end of an era. Did Sega leaving the video game console market mean the end of video games? Did Montgomery Wards leaving the Department Store business signal the end of the Department Store?

I just read an article where PC gaming over the last few years has been come quite big granted its not as big as console gaming but its definitely grown. Until the tablet can match the power of a gaming PC or the storage place of an office PC, the PC will be around for a long time.

Fun fact: Everything developed for smartphones and tablets is done on a PC.

Maybe 10-20 years down the road we'll start seeing more complex and intense tasks (such as programming) done on tablets, but I seriously doubt computers will ever completely go away. The open source community won't let it.

OBJECTION!!!
but seriously, my bad.
sorry.

@Pixelman yep, the opensource community is aweosme
I would like to see linux distrobutions such Ubuntu, Linux mint and openSUSE on tablets though

PCs aren't going anywhere, you can't use your fancy new iPad until you plug it into a computer initially.

Lol Hey thats my line lol. Np its just hard in text when people are joking thats why when I am I usually post but I just forgot to post it that time.

If you're doing a lot of typing, nothing will replace a full keyboard (until tablets can read minds). Tablets are just going to be inconvenient for typing long things or playing keyboard/mouse games. People will not buy so many laptops, if they prefer to bring a tablet on the go, and computers have improved to the point where you don't HAVE to upgrade and replace them as often to do what 98% of the population needs a computer to do (internet surfing, movie streaming, word processing, email, etc.), so there will be fewer PCs purchased, though they'll not disappear in the foreseeable future.

HP computers were pretty crap, I don't have a problem with them sticking to printers.

Yeah. Without Harry Potter's magic making them run, computers will soon become obsolete.

PC's are going away for sure now that one company stopped making them. Exactly how the entire home video game console market dissolved after Sega stopped producing systems. Oh wait.........

I've been hearing about the end of PCs since the early 2000s. Nearly 10 years later and we're no where closer to that being true.

The irony of it all; a tablet computer is a personal computer, maybe even more so than desktop computer.

EDIT: As for the topic; no. desktop computers will always be here to stay because we'll always need more power than a handheld device can give us. Also, full-sized keyboards FTW.

So you're saying tablets will eventually replace laptops and netbooks? The netbook market isn't as big as it was a few years ago, so it seems this is already happening. And laptops offer the full functionality of a desktop, just in a portable form. Tablets can't offer that... yet.

@tendoboy: no offense, but did you miss the part of his post after 'as for the topic'? you quoted it, man... :/

that said, last i checked, non-tablet computers were around before HP stepped into the mix. they'll be around long after they're gone. computer companies come and go (and have also been mixed up and merged with each other over the years); i'm sure we'll see someone else step up and start shining in HP's place for the home consumer soon.

@tendoboy No, if anything I expect netbooks and laptops to outlive tablets because the leading manufacturers don't use a restricted OS.

It was about time HP stopped flooding the marked with mediocre computers with old gimmicks (and i say it by self experience).

I hope not, because I'm like a fish out of water on a Mac.