I had the opportunity to take a day with Brett Nordquist yesterday, and attend the Geekwire Summit in downtown Seattle. The sessions ended up repeatedly circling back to the overwhelming proliferation of mobile devices. Todd Bishop said something I entirely agree with. "Of course we're in a post-PC era! Why are we arguing about it?" he said. "But that doesn't mean the PC is dead." Exactly! Clearly the technology world is changing. But what does that mean for PCs?
Ever since Wilbur and Orville Wright made their famous first flight in 1903, people have been saying "Just you wait! Soon enough everyone will have personal flying cars!" The post-car era had begun, but car usage has been virtually unaffected. I think we're looking at the same thing here. I own a smart phone, and I own a tablet. These devices are great, and they absolutely do reduce the amount of time I have to spend at my desk to get things done. But I still spend at least 30 hours a week at my desk at home, and it feels silly to even think about trying to drop my work PC. As much as I feel I have fully adopted mobile device usage, it has not reduced my demand for traditional PCs at all. How about you?
At Puget Systems, what we are seeing backs this up. We are more busy than we ever have been. We're working overtime and weekends, and my upcoming schedule is filled with interviews lined up for new hires. Small and medium business sales are especially strong — PCs that are being used for productivity. If we focused on selling entry level sub-$1000 PCs to home users, I'm sure we'd have a different tune, but that's not what we sell. We sell high performance, high quality PCs for enthusiasts, professionals, and technophiles. If mobile devices are cutting into the PC market, we sure aren't seeing it.
What do you think? Do you own a smart phone or tablet? How has it affected your need for a PC?