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« on: February 08, 2016, 07:25:55 PM »
When I say PC I mean just that, Personal Computer, so interpret it how you will. For me I exclude mobile devices, especially phones and tablets. Which is the heart of my question. With the rise of mobile and the console gamers becoming more loyal to their machine is there a chance that dedicated PC gaming will die, for real this time? Things like Steam Machine don't really count as proper PC gaming to me either, I consider that more of a console type gaming situation but I don't know maybe the real question is will gaming on Windows/Mac(ha) and even Lin...I couldn't finish that one. Seriously is PC gaming as a whole on the decline? I hear talk that PC's, desktop and laptop, are being replaced by tablets. I think for the masses this is true but I wonder, will the enthusiasts stop buying dedicated hardware?
Think about it like this. Back in the 80's and early 90's "PC" literally meant IBM PC, computer was a generic term because well there were just too many to chose from but computing was a very niche hobby that mostly appealed to professionals, hobbyists, and gamers. In the late 90's until now PC has become a little easier to define, basically all non-Windows PC's disappeared from the market with Mac being the only odd exception and even those are not the same as Apple's back in those old days.
Anyways then in the 90's to 2000's computers became multimedia machines, powerful super computers that did the internet, DVD's, music, streaming, gaming, poker, porn, publications, publishing, desktop productivity, web design, etc. Then computer became mainstream but it also didn't. Tablets are technically computers but not in the traditional sense. But most people aren't even buying tablets for their needs, they get a smart phone and a smart TV and that handles their media side, then if they need to do work they get a tablet but only those in dedicated fields that rely on powerful machines use traditional PC's anymore.
If we consider the media consumers who used multimedia computers have switched to media devices and smart devices, Roku, Playstation, Smart TV, etc, then we can remove them from the PC market. Then we remove the "family budget" types who use their computers for doing their taxes and little else. Many of them have switched to tablets or laptops and laptops are shrinking in terms of capabilities for gaming.
Then we have the Productivity people. I am not sure if you can get a real inDesign, Photoshop, or any of those programs, or apps if you will, on a tablet but I do know you can do web design on a tablet, you can do photo editing, you can do video editing, so for the non-professional there is no longer a need to have a dedicated computer either. The pros are either going to stick to the hardware or find professional tools on a tablet.
So that leaves the office workers, dedicated gamers, and enthusiasts. Office, Cloud computing, Open office, things of that sort, are available on mobile machines now too so that market is shrinking. All that is left is the enthusiasts who still do everything on a PC because an all-in-one machine appeals more than having multiple devices, but even many of them/us, are also getting these devices for convenience sake and doing less and less on our dedicated computers.
All that leaves are the gamers, and they know have Steam Machines, Xbox, Playstation, and well not Wii U because honestly the games PC gamers buy just are not on Wii U stop lying no they are not, not really. Okay some of the steam and mobile stuff, I said stop it Wii U is not an option, quit. Fine throw Wii U in there for good measure. With all these choices the PC gamer no longer needs a dedicated Windows or mac (sorry trying not to laugh) machine to play their PC video games on. Sure there are always going to be those nuts who think a keyboard is better than a proper controller or the rest of us who use our controller ON our PC because that actually makes real sense.
*crickets*
Well I thought it was an interesting discussion... Fine be that way.