Is it the end of the line for the PC already?

An interesting article by an AP reporter talks about the decline in PC sales in Japan. It comes just a few days after a debate with some friends found us mulling over the same issue. My idea that the life of the PC was limited and that the computer as we know it was on its way out was shot down in flames. I was especially on a no-win streak as I couldn’t come up with anything sensible as an alternative!

The report by Hiroko Tabuchi states that PC shipments to Japan have fallen for five consecutive quarters and Japan is considered a key market in this industry. The trend is noticeable across the board for desktops and laptops. Sales are also slowing in America. The only growth is still being experienced in the developing world.

The question that begs an answer is: What is replacing the PC? That is not that easy to answer. Possibly one should rather ask: What was the computer being used for that is now being served by other tech gadgets?

The first item that comes to mind is the music gadget. What the younger generation downloaded on to their PCs is now being downloaded on to their phones or the new iPod Touch, for instance, which is a combination music organiser and web-surfer gadget.

Digital cameras are now able to be linked directly to printers, in this way bypassing the computer. And I am sure that some cameras come with photo-manipulation software so that one can quickly crop and edit where required. Some video recorders have full-on editing functionality installed. The iPhone and presumably other cellphones allow one to upload photographs directly on to one’s Flickr account.

What about other forms of entertainment such as video, movies and games? For these, there are TV sets that are getting bigger and better with amazing picture quality and gaming consoles plugging into the same flat-panel TVs, which in turn plug into any kind of sound system.

And the internet? Apparently more than 50% of Japanese send email and browse the internet from their mobile devices. So what is left for the computer then? So far, it seems that it is back to office applications and possibly for the odd person who is into video editing and serious photo manipulation, which require high computing powers.

Even Apple, whose fun PC-bashing TV adverts promote a Mac over PCs because of all the fun personal applications that allow one to play with photos, video, text and so forth, is seeing a decline in its computer sales in the developed world.

So what are the computer manufacturers doing about it? It seems they have now decided that possibly it is because they have been selling beige boxes — and that innovation in the packaging of the computer could halt the decline in sales.

Some of Sony’s desktop computers have folded up to become clocks, and one of its latest versions even hangs on the wall. Laptops have funky illustrations on them and some manufacturers are finally listening to consumers and are working on making the fan quieter.

Of course there are all sorts of marketing experts who try to put a spin on the declining sales figures. One technology analyst maintains that although Japanese workers are workaholics, they seldom take their work home. Surely that personal preference hasn’t changed in the past few years?

And some official from NEC maintains that the consumer has to remember that the PC is top in terms of computing power. Well, Mr NEC Official, the consumer probably knows this, but possibly computing power isn’t it any more.

Maybe in our hurried society, having it at our fingertips is it. Standing in a crowded commuter train for an hour’s trip home, you are not going to be able to fish the laptop out of your backpack. But you can browse on your cellphone. Japan’s fastest social-networking site, Mobagay Town, is designed exclusively for cellphones. Doesn’t that say something about what gadget the consumer is using?

On a recent trip from London, I shared an iPhone to watch a video. The quality was exceptional and the easy to plug-in earphones, which we shared as well, made it a private viewing. When we arrived in Brighton, the phone was slipped into a coat jacket. No awkward computer to pack away. So I ask you: Is it the end of the line for the PC already?