Are general purpose computers slowly falling out of use?
Nearly all computer users only bought their computers for going on facebook/twitter/etc. and they really do nothing more than sharing pics and stalking people they know IRL.
A computer is something they consider to be a static appliance, so they buy the cheapest one at walmart and then replace it when their "windows gets slow".
To them, a computer is not something you dedicate as a hobby, it is merely a means to an end to view information on the internet.
And a smartphone can do 99% of what they do on a computer, so many people don't even own computers in their homes anymore.
And none of these devices allow you to modify their OS without performing a security exploit to drop a su binary or overwrite the bootloader.
Now that most people are happy with locked down chromebooks and mobile OSes which are only useful as internet devices, how long will it be until you are no longer able to buy a general purpose computer as an individual hobbyist?
The future of personal computers is going to be ARM and arm machines generally don't allow you to sideload linux without a lot of workarounds.
And currently, the only thing keeping general purpose computing alive is the PC gamer who still has a driving need to build their own machine.
How long can PC gamers keep computers from becoming totally locked down media consumption machines?
It's going to happen.
>>55082798
Your moms vagina is falling out of use
>>55082813
Fagggot
>>55082798
I don't see it happening any time soon, mostly because of gaming. It's a shame that it's going to happen, but thank god it won't be any time soon.
>>55084816
I'll bump your moms vagina
Yes, there are very fast mobile devices available to deprecate most uses of desktops for normal people
Desktops are still around for gaming usage and for power users, and there are still lots of working normans who want a stable and fast machine to do work on at home next to their printer and to control their media centers or whatever with.
The problem for the industry is that most of those people don't buy OEM built machines and instead opt to build their own or have someone build it for them through a tech company. So while it's high time to buy individual parts at the moment, prebuilts are going out of business very quickly since their market has narrowed to almost a single buyer, that is schools, offices and other similar areas that buy cheap and shitty machines in bulk with packaged windows licenses. Dell is a prime example of this.
what about people who produce music? engineers? video/image editing? I would think these come into play
>>55087082
They don't use general purpose computers.
>>55082798
Those ARE general purpose computers m8. Gaming pc's are not "general purpose".
The general purpose desktop computer will never go away completely.
Sure, it has already fallen out of favor with mainstream consumers for the reasons that OP stated.
There will always be a place for a regular desktop computer however, and i am fairly certain they won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future.
>>55087322
Then what sort of computers do they use? I don't think there are any computers in the market that are specialized for media editing or engineers? They pretty much just use general purpose computers that have specialized software.
>>55087343
>Gaming pc's are not "general purpose".
Aren't they? Gaming PCs are just general purpose computers with high specs. But the OS is general purpose, and it could still be used for literally anything else.
Chromebooks on the other hand, can only access the internet, and none-smartphone phones are designed for singular purposes.
>>55087479
>PCs are general purpose computers with high specs
Soo... specialized? I believe that's the word you're looking for.
>>55087493
How is it specialized?
I feel like we're using two different definitions.
>>55087526
A torque wrench is a specialized wrench, so is a socket wrench, as well as an impact. The base of this is a wrench, obviously. It turns things, but torque wrenches, socket wrenches and impact wrenches all add functionality, while all still being wrenches. This means that they're all capable of turning things, but it wouldn't make any sense to use a torque wrench to change a tire, and it wouldn't make any sense to use an impact to remove a hand tight bolt.
A gaming PC is much like a PC, in that it can be used in day to day computing tasks. Let's define day to day computing as social media, word processing and basic storage. You could install the same OS on a gaming PC, a server PC, a standard PC and a video editing PC.
All of these could function as one another, but not fill the niche of the others properly. They're specialized.
>>55082798
Most self-respecting software developers use fairly high-end laptops or workstations. Ditto financial industry, engineering professions, scientists, etc. Anyone doing real technical work is still going to want machines that are up to the task.
>>55087573
But "Gaming PCs" don't have any added functionality.
High-end hardware doesn't add functionality to a computer; it merely increases performance in everything it can already do.
My brother built a Gaming PC, but he still uses it for video editing and encoding regularly.
On the other hand, a music artist might buy a high end sound card, as well as various tools that go with his computer; in that case I would call it a specialized computer.
A SteamOS machine might be considered a specialized computer, especially if the only interface is through a controller.
Or is a computer that has "better than average RAM and CPU/GPU" no longer a General Purpose computer?
>>55087688
>Or is a computer that has "better than average RAM and CPU/GPU" no longer a General Purpose computer?
No. Because the requirements for a general purpose computer is that which is required for general uses.
High end gaming is not a general use. In fact, if I had to guess, a very, very small minority of all PCs in the world are capable of running modern games. I'd say something to the tune of <5% can run modern games on high graphics settings. That's even excluding PCs used solely for business purposes.
No. What you're seeing is a new market. Before facebook, only 10% of people actually used computers. Now almost everyone uses a computer, and 90% of them use it for facebook etc.
New market.
>>55082798
>Are general purpose computers slowly falling out of use?
No. If anything, they're finding their way into every single device, even ones that shouldn't need to contain electronics at all
