As per some experts, we are already in the post-PC era. Smartphones, Tablets and the perceived ubiquity of cell phone signals and Internet connections have ushered in the post-PC age in some parts of the world. Some parts of the world are getting their first taste of what Internet is, and yet have all the ingredients to skip the PC altogether. Regardless of which part of the world you are in, connected mobile devices like smartphones and tablets will take over PC’s. If not today, tomorrow. As per IDC, tomorrow is 2015.
As per IDC, the number of mobile Internet users will grow at a rate of 16.6% between 2010 and 2015 and the media tablets will be at the center of this explosive growth. A total of 2.7 billion users will access Internet in 2015 and significant proportion of that would be from mobile devices.
“Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet," said Karsten Weide, research vice president, Media and Entertainment. "Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it’s going to make the Internet a very different place."
2011 has already been marked as the year smartphones beat PC’s. As per the estimates, Smartphones and tablets together should be outshipping PC’s in 2011.
What’s causing the PC shut down?
Though the shut down of PC is initiated by smartphones, there are multiple things which are expediting the PC shut down.
Cloud computing : All the computing is moving away from a desktop computer to the cloud, and bandwidth takes the place of the CPU of a traditional PC.
Wireless Internet : Though there are lot of perceptions built around how unreliable mobile networks and wireless internet services are, it will only get better. A country like India is embracing 3G technologies with 4G/LTE networks ready to be launched next year. WiFi hotspots all around is yet another hard to ignore trend.
Tablets : When we say tablets, there is only one product that comes to our mind : iPad. This might soon change with a bunch of promising tablets like Amazon Tablet. And when some promising low-cost tablets come up, these devices will become ubiquitous. Because most of the time, all you need is a tablet. Tablets for all practical purposes have arrived. How do I know it? Indian parliamentarians are now equipped with iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tabs.
PC will soon be a niche device lugged around by programmers, writers and hobbyists.