Google: Desktops Will Be Irrelevant In Three Years

According to Google, the end of the desktop is nigh.

John Herlihy, European Director of Google's online sales, told audiences at the Digital Landscapes conference in Dublin that he believes desktops are going the way of the dinosaurs.

'In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant. In Japan, most research is done today on smart phones, not PCs,' Herlihy told a 'baffled' crowd.

'Mobile makes the world's information universally accessible,' Herlihy explained, according to SiliconRepublic.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt's articulated a similar stance at last month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where he explained that Google is moving forward with a 'mobile first' mantra.

'It's like magic. All of a sudden you can do things that it never occurred to you was possible. The implication that has not been expressed here or in the industry now is Mobile First - the principal of everything being developed for mobile first,' Schmidt said.

He added:

Our programmers are working on products from a 'Mobile First' perspective. That is in fact a major change. Every recent product announcement we have made - and of course we have a desktop version - is being made from the point of view of it being used on a high-performance mobile phone on all the browsers that are available. Now the programmers want to work on those apps for mobile that you can't get on a desktop - applications that are personal and location-aware.

Google's hardware development has certainly been focused on non-desktop devices. Earlier this year, the company launched its own branded Android smartphone, the Nexus One, and Google is rumored to have its own tablet device in the works (See a first look at Google's 'iPad killer' here).

So is the desktop really on its way to 'irrelevance'?

PC World argues that the 'conventional PC' will 'have a longer, healthier life than Google anticipates. [...] The smartphone is great for many things, but it's no desktop-replacement device, either in the home or office.'

What's your take? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Quick Poll

Will the desktop really be irrelevant in three years' time?

Absolutely--it'll probably happen even sooner.

Not in three years, not ever.

It's on its way to irrelevance--but it'll take more than three years.

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Comments

[Cryostatic]

10:40 AM on 03/08/2010

I do believe that this is one of the most idiotic statements I've ever read.

[bobbobato]

02:57 AM on 03/07/2010

PCs won't be irrelevant; their position will
Merely have changed. Now, PCs are 'the computer'. But in three years PCs should only be one among many others in the house, such as tablets

[Harrier]

12:38 AM on 03/07/2010

Maybe in another universe

[David McDevitt]

07:34 AM on 03/06/2010

I don't want to edit videos on my phone.

[jpditri]

10:43 AM on 03/06/2010

And I'd rather not program these "mobile first" applications on my phone (I'd be that their developers aren't)

Gaming on phones has a long way to go as well. I have a hard time believing PC games like WoW won't remain popular for another three years, and if Star Craft 2 would have to be a pretty serious flop to not last for 3 years (people still play the original).

Eventually most everything will likely run on the cloud, but at that point desktops will be little other than iMacs (just a lot cheaper and subscription based).

[TLUPTOWSKI]

06:37 AM on 03/06/2010

desktops irrelevant in 3 years?

as a consumer item in the home, yes

in the work place, not so much

[LegalCodex]

07:17 AM on 03/07/2010

Even at home there is still plenty of use for them. I'd much rather take care of sending emails, do taxes, and browse the web on a desktop/laptop than use a tablet or mobile for such tasks. Sometimes a full-sized keyboard and mouse are more efficient than the alternatives.

[StephenJK]

05:33 AM on 03/06/2010

Personal Computing in 10 years will be something to behold. I see a computing world that is practically devoid of hardware. Everything will be at the atomic level and therefore, very, very small. Bandwith will only increase with these changes in technology. Whether that entails wider pipes of a restructuring of TCP/IP data transfer methods or the data itself. Holographic displays, bio-centric interactivity (maybe even completely controlled by brainwaves), and software code that has everything built right into it in order to update, repair, securitize and change without lifting a finger. It's going to be unrecognizable from today's standards.

[countrycontemplative]

09:34 PM on 03/05/2010

I don't find this difficult to believe at all. Netbooks and smart phones are the future. All information is moving to the cloud. I read Twitter more often on my Blackberry than anywhere else. I read most of my Gmail on the Blackberry too. I only use a desktop to manage the network and as part of my graduate studies when I'm replying to questions on Moodle.

[wsuvtx]

07:16 PM on 03/05/2010

Most people who work in offices or other stationary business do not need mobile devices. I doubt that any of my users in the finance department are going to be running their software on an iPhone, Droid or any other new ebook/tablet/iPad device that may be coming down the pike.

Obviously there will not be as many sold as there were 10 years ago, but the market will not die.

[chrisberge72]

04:42 PM on 03/05/2010

What do you get when you put an ipad on a desk?

[Angelus2007]

03:11 PM on 03/05/2010

I think Google is partially right. I think with things like iPad and Microsoft Courier digital journal, much more can be done remotely. Things like email, basic work, spreadsheets ect can be done on the go, and without desktops. Somethings need to be done on a desktop, where I work, there are programs that I can only log onto in on PC for security reasons. There is secure data that only let me log in on my pc. That is something that could never be mobile for security reasons.

Another thing is games, many games need monster PCs to run well, laptops won't cut it. This is something that I don't see going anwhere. Desktops will still be around, maybe in smaller numbers and specific uses, but won't go the way of VCRs, Tape Decks, Record Players ect.

[Bushwhacked]

02:49 PM on 03/05/2010

Probably true, also with news that sitting for long periods of time is worse for our health than previously thought.

[littlepuffycloud]

12:42 PM on 03/05/2010

Technology Schmeckology..I'm still waiting for my JettsonMobile.

[Vurz]

12:18 PM on 03/05/2010

My eyesight is too poor to look at tiny screens. It's why I don't even bother with smartphones, they aren't usable to me.

[littlepuffycloud]

12:43 PM on 03/05/2010

Is your avatar one of those thingys we put on 45's to make 'em work on turntables designed for 33's?

[LOCUTUS13]

06:20 PM on 03/05/2010

That's why I just bought my 22" Asus monitor. It's great!

[moana]

11:55 AM on 03/05/2010

Steve Jobs said that a long time ago.

[hdohighdesertobserver]

05:37 PM on 03/05/2010

I said it after buying a laptop in 1994. I think he's less wrong than I was (duh), but still wrong.

Now I think the computer will be irrelevant in 3 three years; replaced by an appliance thingy that connects to the internet and maybe has a calculator which some company will build into the lid so you don't have to figure out how to run the app.

[tompoe]

11:53 AM on 03/05/2010

Let's hope that's true. I'm stuck with my desktop and 19" monitor, until newer stuff starts showing up on my freecycle list. I'd really like to get a flat monitor, some day. It's tough for us fixed income folks to participate in all this new technology.