Over the past couple of years the PC business has been struggling to understand why they 're los...

[G+_Ben Gillihan]

Over the past couple of years the PC business has been struggling to understand why they're losing sales, and both they and tech journalism have looked to mobile devices.  Okay, maybe that's part of it, but so much of tech journalism sees it as THE reason.

 

Tonight, I was prepping for a family trip, and started ripping kids movies with Handbrake on my 5-year-old PC.  Yeah, I plan to copy them to a tablet, but stay with me, the tablet isn't the story.  The first movie is 1:40 long, and the rip/encode took 40 minutes.  When I look at new games coming out, this PC is still more than within the spec range.  I expect that this will change when the PS4 and XBox 1 come out.

 

If I get way faster than real time out of Handbrake and can play the latest titles on a 5-year-old PC, what's my incentive to upgrade?  The iPad didn't do that.

[G+_Jimmy H]

One reason, Windows 8.

[G+_Shane Simmons]

Well, yeah, but it was already going down before 8 came out.

[G+_David Martinez]

I think the question becomes "How much CPU power does one need?" Maybe .. I don't know, I got a 3 yr old laptop that's quick as hell . I won't need a new one for awhile. Maybe that's slowing the PC industry . I use Linux personally so win 8 doesn't affect me as far as sales go cuz I'm just gonna replace it .I believe as soon as 5 and 6 GHz CPUs come around w/ 64 gig o' ram that tune will change and everyone will upgrade. But the way tech media talks about tablets its like you don't need a PC but that not true . how else you gonna get your kids DVD in a tablet ,android or Ipad

[G+_Kevin Wendland]

I think this nails it. PCs can last longer and for most users there isn't much of a performance increase in what they use a PC for. So why drop another $500+ on a new computer when the only difference is that it has a 3rd generation i7 vs 2nd generation?

 

This is what made Windows 8 so appealing. It can be put on older systems and work quite well.

[G+_Ned Jeffery]

I think it's just that PC's hit saturation. it's not the fancy new technology it once was. It's just a tool to get work done. My parents spent thousands of dollars on PC's back in the day because they thought it was necessary. Just the other month I upgraded my mum to a 64-bit Ubuntu machine so she can check her email and look at websites. It cost me $140 on ebay.

 

The sad truth is normal people don't need new computers. The only reason normal people get the latest new phone these days is because the market is designed to refresh every 2 years. If people had to pay the full $1000 price tag for these new phones we'd still be using nokia!

[G+_Mathis Sneed]

I'll agree with Ned Jeffery on his last point...

The performance vs. price of PCs has changed a great deal in recent years.  Just 10 years ago, CPU generations were doubling the performance, plus the world was transitioning from 32-bit to 6-bit.  Today, the next generation of a CPU is marginally faster/more capable than its predecessor.  So upgrading, for most people is borderline pointless.

 

And I completely agree with the point about cell phones...

If carriers hadn't been offering the "subsidized" hardware prices, people would be far slower to get new phones.

[G+_Uncle Joe (Uncle Joe Hi]

Between tablets taking a portion of the market, PC's not dramatically increasing in speed, and Windows 8 the market was bound to be in trouble. Had Windows 8 been compelling, it could have made a difference.