Symbian says in 5 years, PC will die, we will replace

[chokia]

"The personal computer as we know it will soon be dead, replaced by rapidly growing demand for smart mobile devices, according to the head of Symbian."--IT Pro (http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/95827/symbian-boss-predicts-the-death-of-the-desktop.html)

"Mobile phone access will be the next significant Internet phenomenon." --Symbian press release (http://www.symbian.com/news/pr/2006/pr20068554.html)

"In five years' time you'll wonder why you need a PC at all." --John Forsyth, Symbian's Head of Market Propositions, New.com (http://news.com.com/Symbian+forecasts+the+death+of+the+PC/2100-1039_3-6126565.html)

[mewtwosama]

I dont think nerds will want to play World of Warcraft on their phones.

[francisofarabia]

i dont need a PC...

i want a tripple boot, OSX + Vista + RH Linux on xenon dual core with 4GB RAM, 2x512 nVidea card, and 4x300GB in RAID... of course, it must have blue neon...

[chokia]

If you still think that a PC must consist one huge LCD screen, a keyboard, a CPU, two speakers or in a form of a laptop, then you will never get it.

You must think out of the box.

[chokia]

Ever heard of Gumstix? Its linux computer in the size of a gumstick and yes it doesnt look like a computer at all.

http://gumstix.com/images/indxMast-netCF.jpg

Learn more : www.gumstix.com

[dmitri]

I have no doubt Nokia will be interfacing with LCDs in the next couple of years, and Symbian plans to develop into a full Operating system. Fighting Windows will be a difficult fight.

They already have keyboard support, email, web, camera, tv output.. They're almost there.

-dp

[chokia]

EMEA Q3 2006 – highlights from the Canalys research

Reading, UK - Tuesday, 24 October 2006
For immediate release

-EMEA smart mobile device shipments grow 11.7% year on year in Q3 2006, up from 10.6% in Q2
-Converged devices grow 19.2%, while unconnected handhelds fall again, this time by 42.7%
-Nokia retains overall market lead, while HTC in second is fastest growing vendor in the top five
-Symbian’s share increases to 78.7%, ahead of Microsoft on 16.9%

http://www.canalys.com/pr/images/r2006102b.gif

The handheld’s decline has also had an impact on Microsoft’s overall share of the smart mobile device market. In Q3 2006 it is sitting at 16.9%, down from 18.0% a year ago, despite shipments of Windows Mobile based converged devices (smart phones and wireless handhelds) increasing by almost 80% year-on-year. In the converged device space, it is not only the HTC/Qtek-branded products that are generating growth, but also those branded by operators such as O2 and Orange. The new Palm Treo 750v available through Vodafone in Europe is also expected to make a significant contribution over the coming months.

Source : http://www.canalys.com/pr/2006/r2006102.htm

[dmitri]

If the above is true, Nokia just milked every single other compeditor's sales to increase their own.

I wonder what Q3 and Q4 look like, since Nokia needed to do the price drop..

-dp

[jayesh]

i am really not aware of what Nokia guys have been smokin in their part of the world. Replace PCs right .... Mac OS replaces Windows as the dominant consumer OS in a week.

[phonophiliac]

It might not be Symbian that replaces PC's, but miniaturization is very real. I absolutely believe that PC's (not super computing machines, servers, whatever), like the thinkpad I am using now for posting this, will be replaced by one single device. The smartphone (or some other name that will evolve) is the perfect (though still rudimentary) incarnation of that idea, so that everyone has this one little device that takes pictures, talks to others via radio/text/net, is connected constantly to the internet, is capable of all the things a computer can do now. so that, they just arrive to work, school, work, home, whatever, and drop the little guy into a simple little cradle, which will have keyboard, screen, mouse, etc., already hooked up. Batteries are the only thing holding this revolution back. Already have processors (that will get faster and smaller with time), video cards, tv-out, wifi cards, hid profiles, ram, etc. This can be done.

[chokia]

Look at today desktop, it only provides interfaces (ports) for monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers etc to connect to it.

[difenbaker]

"The personal computer as we know it will soon be dead, replaced by rapidly growing demand for smart mobile devices, according to the head of Symbian."--IT Pro (http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/95827/symbian-boss-predicts-the-death-of-the-desktop.html)

mmm... nothing new really, this has been said by "experts" years before - that the PC will die. But it's now 10 years down the line - and the PC still lives.

"Mobile phone access will be the next significant Internet phenomenon." --Symbian press release (http://www.symbian.com/news/pr/2006/pr20068554.html)

Laptops/Notebooks have also been mentioned to be this 'phenomenon' too. And to a point - this has come true. Cellphones, on the other hand, are still very very far off from reaching that point. They're fine for that occasional email or surfing some sites.... but email and surfing are certainly NOT the only things you do with the internet.

"In five years' time you'll wonder why you need a PC at all." --John Forsyth, Symbian's Head of Market Propositions, New.com (http://news.com.com/Symbian+forecasts+the+death+of+the+PC/2100-1039_3-6126565.html)

5 years? I think Symbian is just too ambitious to be saying all that. Unless phones have the processing power, screen real estate, storage and graphics capabilities of PC's - they'd never be able to replace it.

cheers!

[jayesh]

5 years? I think Symbian is just too ambitious to be saying all that. Unless phones have the processing power, screen real estate, storage and graphics capabilities of PC's - they'd never be able to replace it.

cheers![/quote]


Amen!

[lumkeikei]

Sorry I am not smartphone user, so am I getting this right? Is Symbian like a PC on a phone?? Also, is Nokias the only one with Symbian?? Sorry for the dumb questions, but I want to know what it is, cause I would like to purchase a smartphone later.
THANKS!!!!

[MikeUK]

There is the issue of many people will still want for home use at least 17" screens lots of people 19" or more. It's much more comfortable and quick using a mouse and keyboard then a qwerty keyboard. Also mobile phones can't provide the same multimedia experience for people who use their computer as a music system (me included) because I don't want to use headphones all the time, I like my 5.1 speakers.

I'm not anti-progression, I just really don't think it is physically possible to meet all needs (to the preffered level) in a mobile device with current and upcoming technologies.

[chokia]

Today CPU only provides interfaces so you can connect to your favorites peripherals (keyboard/mouse/19"/5.1 ch etc)

Now disconnect your desktop CPU from the monitor, keyboard, mouse etc and keep it in box, place it in the attic.

5 years from now when your CPU in attic and the rest of peripherals still are lying on the table, you connect your future phone with these peripherals.

It can be either with special cable and adapter or connector or wirelessly with wifi/bt/uwb etc.

So do you think its possible?

[robbii]

Today CPU only provides interfaces so you can connect to your favorites peripherals (keyboard/mouse/19"/5.1 ch etc)

Now disconnect your desktop CPU from the monitor, keyboard, mouse etc and keep it in box, place it in the attic.

5 years from now when your CPU in attic and the rest of peripherals still are lying on the table, you connect your future phone with these peripherals.

It can be either with special cable and adapter or connector or wirelessly with wifi/bt/uwb etc.

So do you think its possible?Fully agree. With TV/LCD-Ouput capability and bluetooth (for a keyboard, mouse, printer, hard drive, etc.) there is no reason why a handset can't eventually replace a personal PC. That was my original plan to do this with an N93 but with the current bleeding edge tech the experience still leaves something to be desired...in 5 years or so I hope this will be all worked out. Someone please argue against this.

[francisofarabia]

^ then i will hold all my smartphone purchases from now on and wait after 5 years so that i can have both PC and phone...

[robbii]

^ then i will hold all my smartphone purchases from now on and wait after 5 years so that i can have both PC and phone...um, i guess your ^ pertains to my post, you can do whatever you want, nobody said anything about holding off any purchases.

[Diji1]

Sorry I am not smartphone user, so am I getting this right? Is Symbian like a PC on a phone?? Also, is Nokias the only one with Symbian?? Sorry for the dumb questions, but I want to know what it is, cause I would like to purchase a smartphone later.
THANKS!!!!

Symbian (or S60 - same thing basically) is an operating system for PDAs & Smartphone. So if you mean can you do the same tasks on your PDA as your PC - the answer is yes within the limits of hardware.

Nokia isn't the only manufacturer that makes devices that use Symbian.

I'd agree with everyone who said "heard it before" regarding PC becoming superseded. I recall hearing this when I got my first computer (good old C64) and now I hear the same thing now that Sony PS3 has just been released - it's a result of people becoming too excited by new technology.

It might not be Symbian that replaces PC's, but miniaturization is very real. I absolutely believe that PC's (not super computing machines, servers, whatever), like the thinkpad I am using now for posting this, will be replaced by one single device. The smartphone (or some other name that will evolve) is the perfect (though still rudimentary) incarnation of that idea, so that everyone has this one little device that takes pictures, talks to others via radio/text/net, is connected constantly to the internet, is capable of all the things a computer can do now. so that, they just arrive to work, school, work, home, whatever, and drop the little guy into a simple little cradle, which will have keyboard, screen, mouse, etc., already hooked up. Batteries are the only thing holding this revolution back. Already have processors (that will get faster and smaller with time), video cards, tv-out, wifi cards, hid profiles, ram, etc. This can be done.

This is certainly the aim and an idea that is bandied about a bit but I don't buy it. I certainly believe that miniturisation is occurring, leading to all sorts of advances in devices. But as far as I can see, the whole device market as a whole is fracturing rather than converging due to specifications being preferred over others (eg. Symbian vs. WM) and corporations acting like they should: ruthlessly pursuing profits rather than specifications that would converge everything and lead to a "one device for everyone" type deal.

I also think there'll always (for the short - medium term anyhow) be a core group of users worldwide who wish to have what a PC offers - the "general purpose" nature of PC's for apps & adding hardware, the ability to develop software and also just the fun of building and "modding" your own computer. I just can't see it happening for a long time I'm afraid - batteries are a problem but not the major hurdle for this too happen IMHO. The general trend in business also appears to be placing more and more processing power in the hands of employees: I can't see how having one, small device will ever replace this. Certainly not for a long, long time anyways.

[edit:] ... is sort of a funny proposition as well: replacing a PC with a box that you connect things to (keyboard etc.) - isn't that what PC's already are? Sounds like they talking about adding a mobile phone to a computer - already have that: Pocket PC Phone Edition. Good on you Symbian for aiming high though... someone's gotta provide competition to MS and their much maligned products that none-the-less are used by more people ;) . A computer is a computer: it's everything else that matters - out of any company ATM, MS are probably the closest to achieving a "box for everyone" type product... after all, what is Windows and what does it run on :) .