Michael Dell Dismisses Tablet Threat To the PC Market

alphadogg writes with an excerpt from a Network World article: "The PC is not likely to be challenged by the tablet or the smartphone, and many users of the Internet on these devices will turn to the PC for a better experience, Michael Dell said in Bangalore on Monday. If you were going off to college and could only have one device, you would choose the PC over a smartphone or a tablet, said Dell, whose company also sells smartphones. 'If you could have two devices, then you would probably choose the phone before the tablet,' the Dell CEO added."

Comments

He's probably right.

[icebike]

Trying to do much REAL WORK(tm) on a tablet is an exercise in frustration. By the time you add a keyboard and mouse so that you can be even marginally productive you might as well get the tablet so that you can work even where/when there isn't a wireless network.

The tablet's niche is on the couch or the train or the bus.

Re:He's probably right.

[Captain Splendid]

No he's not right. Since the 90s, the "Computer" business has been primarily consumer driven. Which, for the majority of the population, is no longer a desktop, and less and less a laptop.

If Michal Dell wants to ignore the the metrics that made his company a household name in the first place, that's pretty damned stupid.

Re:He's probably right.

[icebike]

Sorry, why are you adding a mouse?

Because keyboard and touch screen is a combination that just doesn't work. I've tried it, and found it just easier to add a bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo rather than reaching across my keyboard to touch the tablet all the time. Touch screen cursor placement is finicky on the best of tablets. And any amount of typing beyond the short email is a hopeless productivity killer.

Re:He's probably right.

[MightyYar]

Trying to do much REAL WORK(tm) on a tablet is an exercise in frustration.

What you say is true, but for most people, "real work" means text editing, taxes, Quicken, maybe some photo organizing. Any computer made since 2006 is more than adequate until XP goes dark in 2014. If people get on an 8-year upgrade cycle for desktops/laptops, Dell is in for a real hard decade.

Re:He's probably right.

[bonch]

The problem is that a very large amount of people don't do what you would consider "real work"--they only want to check email, browse YouTube, and visit Facebook, and they only have PCs because it was the only way they could do those things previously. Michael Dell has a vested interest in telling people that PCs will rule forever, but I have to tell you, having a portable computer that you don't have to spend hours of maintenance on every week is really, really nice, especially in bed or on the couch.

Re:He's probably right.

[evilviper]

The problem is that a very large amount of people don't do what you would consider "real work"--they only want to check email, browse YouTube, and visit Facebook,

That's not everything most people do. That's 95% of what most people do, and all they think of, but losing the other 5% becomes a real killer. Manipulating photos, video, having terabytes of storage, printing out coupons, printing out most anything, audio capture/editing, etc., etc. I've yet to meet someone who doesn't have one major niche purpose for their computers.

but I have to tell you, having a portable computer that you don't have to spend hours of maintenance on every week is really, really nice,

What the hell kind of maintenance are you doing for hours every week? If you're talking about security updates, well you're in for a big surprise when worms for iOS / Android start spreading. If you're talking about disk cleanup, well having a piddly amount of storage is a huge negative, not a positive that you can't do it anymore. Other than that, I can't think of what "maintenance" you need to do all the time.

Re:He's probably right.

[sonicmerlin]

Dude, what you described *is* innovation. It's like the Japanese bringing just-in-time manufacturing to the auto industry. It's just supply side innovation, rather than client-side.

Re:Mr Dell's reality distortion field

[bigstrat2003]

It's insane to say that the PC is dying because people aren't buying new ones. Maybe (just maybe) people are happy with, and are using, the PCs they already have. That's not "dying", that's simply market saturation.

Good bye Dell

[nurb432]

Sounds like he's got the same problem most other giants have had at some point, just before they start gong down hill. They refuse to acknowledge the changing tide around them, and are unable ( unwilling ) to adapt.

The first step is denial.

Re:Only a threat in multiple computer households

[realityimpaired]

Michael Dell is usually right about that kind of thing. That's not because I'm any kind of fangirl, or because I used to work for him, just that he's historically been pretty good at predicting market trends. You said it yourself... it's a good replacement to a *second* computer, but you still need a real computer to type documents and actually create content for. Especially at a school.

What I'd like is a modern version of the "tablet" computers that Lenovo was selling 8 years ago. The kind where you could flip the screen around and use the thing as a tablet, or you could open it up and have a working laptop? Couple that with an ultraportable 13" laptop that tips the scales around 3lbs, and they could make a ton of money on it. Wouldn't even be that hard, they'd just have to rearrange the hinge design on the laptop I have right now (a Dell Vostro V130), and replace the LCD with a touchscreen. I'd even be willing to accept one that requires a stylus instead of finger input. It would be hugely useful. I would be willing to accept the extra bulk inherent in that kind of design in exchange for the increased usability, and I'd still have something that's more portable than the heavier 15" or 16" laptops most people buy.

Re:Only a threat in multiple computer households

[Man On Pink Corner]

Dells primary audience is business, tablets are consumer items and rarely used in businesses.

Yeah, I remember when people around here used to say that about iPhones.

Re:Also, if you owned Apple

[Anonymous Coward]

And being average is why his company is now sinking.