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PC Market Could Return To Growth in 2019 (betanews.com)
IDC's latest Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker offers new insight as to why the firm believes the PC market is set for a growth period a few years from now. From a report: Detachable tablets such as Microsoft's Surface line and Apple's iPad Pro will lead the growth as consumers have turned away from laptops in favor of these more versatile computing devices. Last year, 21.5 million of these devices were shipped and the number of units sold could reach as high as 45.9 million in 2021. Notebook computers and mobile workstations are another category that will see continued growth with shipments rising from 156.8 million units in 2016 to 163.7 million by the year 2021. Desktop computers are still decreasing in popularity and that trend is likely to continue with their sales predicted to decrease by 15 million a year leading up to 2021.
I wouldn't say "better", but the Surface Pro is a full computer (real version of Windows) while the iPad Pro is only iOS (good for basic stuff but nowhere near as useful as macOS).
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How the hell is a tablet or other "smart" device with it's nifty camera and bucket o' apps more versatile than a laptop running a full operating system that has the capability of actually installing software packages from hundreds of different vendors and can be customized considerably more from both the software and hardware standpoint?
I think the only thing we're becoming more versatile at doing is accepting the fact that consumers have become idiots when it comes to technology, and even a full-fledged operating system is too complex for them to operate.
Not to mention the fact that consumers apparently love pissing money away replacing their hardware every 2-3 years, which is what the "smart" market dictates. That's really the part that chaps my ass the most. Running hardware for a decade to maximize useful life is practically illegal now. And yet we bitch about filling landfills.