Death of PCs and Battle for Developers and Software Solutions

Sales of traditional PCs are collapsing faster than anyone expected.

The latest IDC report released this month that says PC sales are down 14% year over year.

IDC talks about Windows 8 – While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices.

While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices.

Microsoft is not making anything new that people want.
Business users need the consistency of the old solutions that are delivery systems for Microsoft Office and related software solutions. It is about not breaking what works.
However, some business users are not locked in and they are shifting to new solutions that are not regular PCs.

For consumers it is about the speed and quality of solution innovation.
It is about the speed and wealth and productivity that software developers have in different environments.
Microsoft broke with too many developers with the move to dot Net. The old Visual basic and visual studio environments were productive for developers and enabled them to make more money. dot Net was different, had some learning curve but did not help developers make more money and made them less productive. Instead of going to dot Net many old Microsoft developers went to Javascript, Python and then to HTML5.

Where can software developers make the best career and businesses ?
This is where the best software solutions are built.
Software developers are willing to go to a non-Open solution but that solution has to make them a lot more money.

Microsoft is no longer making developers richer.

For PCs to resist being displaced then they have to offer better solutions that require things that are unique to PCs.

Mainframes had more solutions which took decades to replace and IBM was able to shift and adapt mainframe solutions. Mainframes were able to be a means to provide central corporate control and standards and security.
There were real business reasons for mainframes.

Some PC solutions have some stickiness but once people shift out of Windows XP and old versions of microsoft office, there is a high likelihood that cloud and completely browser based solutions will free them from Windows and Office entirely.

Programming Language popularity 2013

Here is a list of programming languages by popularity at TIOBE

China was the number one PC market in 2012 and a major hope for PCs in the future

China was the number one PC market in 2012

There was more rural preference for PCs in China.
China has a higher share for business computers (50-50 with consumer computers) versus 65-35 elsewhere.

IHS said a vast market opportunity continues to exist for PCs in China in the form of potential first-time buyers, most of whom live in the countryside. China’s central government plans this year to invest some 40 trillion yuan—equivalent to some $6.4 trillion—to build rural infrastructure in the next 10 years, IHS said. PC OEMS can take advantage of the initiative to build out and expand from the cities.

This probably will not help Microsoft because PCs in China probably will be using Chinese versions of Linux and other software developed in China.

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