[Discuss] Future of Personal Computers

[markw at mohawksoft.com (markw at mohawksoft.com)]

My friends and I were arguing about what the future holds for computers. I
think we all agree that the desktop is dead, but there is some
disagreement as to the fate of the laptop. Does anyone think that this is
an interesting discussion?

Here are my assertions:

The desktop if largely dead like cobol. It will linger, but never return.

The laptop is dead too, tablets will become the new laptops. Bluetooth
keyboards and mice, plus a master USB port, will make them more usable
than laptops. Android will make them price competitive.

A "yet to be filled" niche will become a new must-have home device, It
will be a cross between a set-top box and a file server. The cloud is a
possibility in this space, but I don't buy it. With all the hand-waiving
going on "people don't want that" I really think they do want their data
under their control. The device will allow you to sync all your devices
and share files and songs in your house.

What do you think?