Do you remember the day when you would go to the video store and rent a VCR machine at the same time that you rented movies? Then, VCR’s became very common and everyone had one. You simply went to the movie store to rent a movie to watch on a Friday night. Then, it wasn’t long until you found yourself just buying the movies so that you could watch them anytime you liked.

You likely acquired a large collection of VHS tapes of your favorite movies. Then along came this thing called a DVD. They caught on pretty quick and it wasn’t long before everyone was buying DVD’s and DVD players. Trying to find a VCR for sale now is almost impossible and a thing called Blu-ray disks are starting onto the scene. They may replace all of those DVD’s.

The question is will desktop computers become obsolete? Will there a come a day when are laptops and phones will be all that we need? Our society likes to have access to all of their files, no matter where they are at. The desktop computer is just that, a desktop computer. It does not travel with us and so the files on that computer are not accessible when we leave our desk.

This question about desktop computers becoming obsolete is an interesting one because more and more our society is becoming obsessed with staying connected to the internet 24/7 365. There are constantly new ways being developed to accommodate that obsession. This does not necessarily guarantee that the desktop will become a thing of the ancient past, but let me pose this question: Do you remember 3×5 floppy disks? Do you have any now that you cannot access because no computer you have access to has a floppy disk reader in it?

So let’s play devil’s advocate here and ask the question, what are the reasons that desktop computers will stick around? Why can we not do everything and more with the laptop that we do with a desktop? One thing that could be taken as a hint that desktops are going to stick around is the continuing manufacturing and improving of desktop computers. If manufactures saw a trend significant enough against desktops, then they would not continue to improve them and manufacture them.

Another, less scientific reason, why desktop computers may not be leaving anytime soon is the instinctive desire we have to have a “home base”. We are creatures of habit and do not always let go of thinks easily. Even if we are going to use a desktop for just a couple of minutes a day, we tend to stick to what we know. Also, there are enough people that just despise using a laptop for the bulk of their work and prefer to only use a laptop when it is necessary.

All of that said, we are still a society that is evolving into a 24/7 connected society. We like knowing what is happening as it happens rather than hearing about it on the evening news (and our friends happenings are not on the news). We like the freedom to work from wherever we please, be it at home, the park, or in the office. Employers also like connection and are finding that if they use laptops they can stay better connected to their employees, even when they are at home or on vacation because they will be more likely to be connected to the 24/7 information super highway.

There are still uses for the desktop on a larger scale in networks and other similar applications. However, desktops for the individual user at home or at the office may become a history question. Then again, maybe desktop will remain on the desk at the office or in the home for a long time yet. Only time will tell us which way it will be.

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