Analysis: 20 factors that will change PCs in 2002

CNN.com Sci-Tech / PC World.com ^ | December 25, 2001 Posted: 9:18 a.m. EST (1418 GMT) | Daniel Tynan

[anymouse]

Hot economies cool down and Net empires collapse, but technology continues to move at light speed. Digital tools are not only getting smaller, faster, and cheaper, they're also insinuating themselves into every corner of life. And these days they're as likely to be found in your pocket as on your desk.

[Bogey78O]

Have you ever seen Earth: Final Conflict?

They have a device called a global. Part computer/part phone/part GPS system.

I have faith these will oneday exist.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

I've got an old IBM 133mz desktop with an Evergreen 600 mz/256mb ram AcceleraPCI card which makes the computer work like new. I have no intention of purchasing a brand new one, at least anytime soon. Especially with XP, i don't care how stable the OS is. I've got 98SE, which along with the older computer will allow me to maintain complete control, especially with my ability to burn cd's and record mp3s. The technology appears to me anyway to be moving in an anti-consumer, pro big business direction that will limit consumer choices.

[Brett66]

I'm looking forward to the introduction of the OLED's. Seems like you should be able to purchase a thin 19 inch monitor for less than $50 by now.

[anymouse]

Didn't see that Scientology sponsored piece of crap SciFi.

All-in-one devices are always nice, except do you really want a global tracking device on something that you can't do without?

[ikka]

802.11 is WAY hotter than some bogues Intel marketspeak like "hyper-threading".

Notice: typical pro-MS piece - not one mention of Linux or Mac OS X.

[johnboy]

yawn.

[Dittohead_2]

Wake me when PC's have caught up to Apple Computers

[Robert_Paulson2]

five years from now... Microslop will be histoire.

Lotus and word perfect made the apple personal computer the envy of microslop... windows was the result...

The APPLICATIONS were what sold the computer... not the performance specs per se.

The open sourcers will eventually take massive market share away from ms... barring government intervention... or perhaps Willie G will assert HE invented the concept of word processing... and page layout, or accounting with a spreadsheet... et al.

If the freebie unix clones survive the attacks by the Justice Department in their support of the microslop hegemony... there will be no microslop as we know it five years from now.

If the power is ultimately given to the people, will that power corrupt them absolutely??? Look for government to license and register all computers, like cars and guns over the next few years... "WE just have to register these dangerous computer platforms on an individual basis... how else can we protect the people from terrorists1!?!"

I say give em the power anyhow.

[lmr]

Darnit. I thought the PC in the article meant "Political correctness"! ;-)

[Petronski]

What is it? A way to make processors that are up to 100 times faster than today's chips.
What's cool? Even Moore's Law eventually gets trumped by the laws of physics. In a few years, the current method of packing ever greater numbers of transistors onto a chip will hit a wall. But a technology called Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography may break that barrier. Intel estimates that EUVL chips will boast 400 million transistors -- about ten times more than the Pentium 4's 42 million.
When's it coming? In three to five years.
What's the catch? Software that's capable of taking advantage of all this processing muscle is nowhere in sight.
Impact meter: 8

Speech recognition can use all the cycles you can throw at it.

By that time, I'm sure Microsoft Windows XXXP will require a Pentium 8 and use up all of these CPU cycles and thirst for more.

[x]

One factor won't change in 2002.

Journalists will still feel obligated to think up stupid puns.

[VOA]

bump

[chaosagent]

Since when does Gene Roddenberry's "Earth: Final Conflict" TV show have any thing to do with Scientology.

Are you thinking about the "Battlefield: Earth" movie? They're two completely different things.

[tybalt]

"...technology is getter better/faster/smaller and continues to penetrate into our lives more and more and more..."

Ditto johnboy...yawn...this statement says nothing different in 2001 than it did in 1971.

GO64 and the 1541 Disk Drive!

[AGreatPer]

Hey, as long as my turntable with 33's and 78's are working, I'm happy.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

You know, I've got some old Alvin and the Chimpmunks 78's, little scratchy, but what the heck. When technology starts to get a little too complicated, we can always regress to the simpler times.

[Redcloak]

Of course, the sick part is that the driving force behind all of these technological advances will be the needs of internet porn sites.

[RnMomof7]

FYI

[boris]

"Lotus and word perfect made the apple personal computer the envy of microslop... windows was the result..."

And the Mac is the Betamax of computers. What is their market penetration?...1%? 3%?

Apple now fully qualifies as a cult. It isn't even significant enough to be termed a "sector."

People vote with their dollars, which is why Mr. Gates has 70 billions of dollars and you have none.

--Boris