"Death of the personal-computer” is one of the recurring themes we’ve been seeing for the past several years. Having a long association in the semi-conductor Industry, such articles performed their duty, creating churns in my stomach. While such articles are not uncommon in the last two decades, once again the PC sales have bounced back proving the pundits wrong.
I’ll attribute the success to these factors: Resilience, Innovation and the Support Group
Resilience - For many years, smaller devices have challenged the PC with better flexibility, longer battery-life, lightweight, etc. Despite all the setbacks, challenges and the assumption that the millennials will avoid the PC as they refuse to be tied to a desk, the reality is smartphones, tablets and PCs all being used alongside performing the tasks best suited to.
We’re at the beginning of the 4th revolution. Although Artificial Intelligence discussions started around 1950s, it looks more real now due to the processing power, data and cloud. While there are clear benefits, we hear more challenges and the uncertainty. That’s what makes it interesting. We have successfully seen three revolutions in the past and the questions for the 4th should be, “How are we going to approach it? How quick we’re going to bounce back from the challenges”.
Innovation - If you look at the history of the PC, you could see how heavy, boring and less innovative the PC was for a long time. The competition from the smaller devices and the user preferences forced the PC to innovate more in the last few years than it has innovated in the first few decades becoming a better product and evolving.
In a world of disruption due to technology, new trends are threatening our jobs, they way we've performed our jobs, outdating the skills we developed over many decades and pushing us out of our comfort zone. The change is uncomfortable, unsettling and our usual response is to avoid and resist if possible. While the change is difficult, a positive outlook could help us to see the numerous opportunities it brings. History proves, the best option is to embrace the change by investing in new skills to create a better tomorrow.
Support Group– The PC bounced back due to the contributions of the organizations in its ecosystem. Organizations of various sizes collaborated, leveraging each other strengths to make the PC better and relevant. The result, we have a PC with better design, features and usage.
In an era of 24-hour news and updates, the role of the others are becoming crucial in our success. It’s becoming essential for us to build a support network with diverse skills and talent. It is our responsibility to ensure that they care in our success.
With PC considered as a ‘thing’ in the ‘Internet of Things’, I don’t expect the PC to die, rather see a bright future. By remaining resilient, innovative and guidance from the support network, I believe in we can…
Conquer the change!
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