Is there anything that a smartphone cannot do? In the last several years, smartphones revolutionised the world. Nowadays, people use their smartphones to handle almost everything they need, from groceries to work tasks, to games and leisure activities. A variety of computing visionaries have started to speak about the possibility of smartphones replacing the PCs.
Sceptics argue that this is still a “fantasy” mainly because mobile processors are not fast enough to meet the performance expectations of the users. An example to support this hypothesis is the quick fall of netbooks: the tiny computers were way too slow.
Another argument is that the battery life of a smartphone cannot match the one of a laptop. Current batteries are still challenged by the regular use of a smartphone, as an entertainment and communication device. Without a big leap forward in battery technology smartphones batteries won’t be able to sustain the PC-grade performance.
From the consumer point of view, it has yet been proven that people actually care about portability. Some researchers argue that “most people are, and will remain, uninterested in computing, and just want their device to be intuitive and useful.”(Smith, 2013)
In spite of these arguments, the numbers and statistics on smartphone market are still growing and showing that people are more and more interested in managing their lives using smartphones, rather than laptops.
First of all, phones are much more convenient. As everything is starting to be stocked in the cloud, files can be accessed easily from mobile devices, anytime and everywhere. Furthermore, with Windows developing more and more PC-features for phones, the desktop experience is replicated on the smartphones. Therefore, in the future, why switch to another platform, if you already have it all?
Thirdly, with the emergence on bluetooth devises, mouses and keyboards, the lack-of-physical-keyboard problem is resolved.
As the laptops become smaller, smartphone displays become bigger, thus creating an optimal-size screen.
Lastly, the phone is always connected to the internet.
All in all, with the smartphone prices starting to be more and more equivalent with laptop prices, the idea of mobile-devises replacing PCs is becoming more plausible.
References:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/why-your-smartphone-wont-be-your-next-pc/
http://www.greenbot.com/article/3006339/smartphones/10-ways-your-smartphone-has-already-replaced-your-laptop.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-drake/5-reasons-why-i-went-laptop-less-with-my-smartphone_b_7574990.html
Hi Ana, thank you for your blogpost! I think this is a very interesting topic. In the past people did not believe we would walk around with mobile phones. I saw a video once where people were interviewed on the street and were asked what their thoughts were on mobile telephones. The reactions were very outspoken, most people found it a ridiculous question. They didn’t believe that this was ever going to happen. It actually did happen and now with smartphones and the internet it happens on an even larger scale than anyone in the past could have imagined. I think this is similar to what you wrote in your blogpost. Now people will be reluctant to believe this, but I think there is a fair chance PC’s will be replaced by smartphones. However, at this moment I don’t see how this will work for screen sizes. As you said smartphones are getting bigger but at one stage they will not fit into your pocket, or if it does fit into your pocket I think it will be too small to work on on a daily basis. I am curious to see what this situation will be 15 years from now!
Hey Anna,
First of all, on some points I think you are right concerning the emergence of smartphones. For many users, I think maybe everyone, it will be easy to carry their whole life with them just in the pocket. A smartphone is cheaper than a laptop so that can also be a reason for a person to buy a smartphone and do everything on this device, rather than have two devices. However, there are still some snags. For me personally, I use my laptop mostly for school, as in writing papers and using Microsoft Office programs as Excel and PowerPoint. You mention that smartphones are getting bigger screens, but I think this could also be a downside for the emergence of a smartphone. People do not want to carry such a big device with them and when screens are getting bigger, the greater the device will be. I personally then would prefer a computer/laptop next to my mobile phone for using Word, Excel etc. I think it is an interesting discussion at what extent a smartphone will really replace the use of laptops. The future will tell.
Thanks for the nice post, Ana! It’s a really interesting idea and a relevant topic. I think it’s true that smartphones are getting more and more popular, that they have more functions than ever, and that one of the most important factors for people is the portability. However, I think it might be a good idea to distinguish between work-related use and free-time use. It is true that smartphones are powerful, but I don’t believe that people are interested in doing their work on their smartphone, as the screen is too small for work tasks (like working with Excel, for example). In addition, it is true that Bluetooth devices, mouses and keyboards are emerging, however, they are not likely to replace physical keyboards that fast, as people are often careful with adopting new technologies related to their work. In addition, mobile processors are not fast enough for running analytical programs like Stata or for playing PC games, and in terms of gaming performance matters. Another problem is, as you also mentioned, the battery performance of smartphones cannot match the battery performance of computers, which can make it really annoying for people that want to work on a smartphone.
On the other hand, smartphone-PC devices do make sense and could be interesting in the future. Moreover, it does seem like smartphones are killing tablets, as smartphone screens are getting bigger and bigger and both smartphones and tablets have pretty much the same functionality. However, this does not mean that computers are obsolete, as many people still prefer to do their work on a familiar Windows desktop/laptop device rather than on a small touchscreen device.
Sources:
http://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/will-a-smartphone-replace-your-pc.html
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/why-your-smartphone-wont-be-your-next-pc/
http://www.howtogeek.com/199483/tablets-arent-killing-laptops-but-smartphones-are-killing-tablets/
Hi Ana, I found your post very interesting to read. A few solid arguments as to why phones could replace computers. However, I do believe phones could never fully replace computers. Netbooks, perhaps, but computers seems like a completely different story. Screen size would be the main issue here for me. Personally i’m a fan of fairly large pc screens, as it allows me to be more productive and enjoy games more. Therefore, I don’t see myself using a smartphonw exclusively.
Luca
I think this is a really interesting topic at the moment. I especially agree with the “portability” sentiment that most consumers have with their devices. Carrying a laptop around can be a major hassle in certain circumstances.
While the landscape does seem to be shifting in the favour of smartphones, I have also noticed the increasing preference to using tablets. They are slightly less cumbersome and may be the stepping stone between the laptop and the smartphone. Either way, with the growth in the cloud’s usage and easy access to it from a mobile smartphone, I would tend to agree with you that smartphones may well be on their way to overtaking laptops.
Thanks for the interesting post!
Besides from smartphones starting to get more and more simular to normal PC’s, and also be able to run the same things on it, I really think that PC’s will ultimately prevail in especially business environments. This is because of the limited capacitiy of a smartphone compared to that of a PC and the also increasing size and requirements of programmes that are used with these devices. But besides the larger applications it is a good observable trend that small applications and functionalities shift from PC to smartphone
Thank you for this interesting article.
I think that the mobile will replace the computer for some application but not for all. Some applications may be more useful or easier to use on the mobile but the majority of them is currently difficult to use or not possible on the mobile. However, I think that the shift will continue to happen for some activities/applications that were previously done with the computer.
Moreover, it will be difficult to develop all the application for mobiles.
At the moment, I personally don’t see a future without computer. The main reason is that some computer applications are not available on the mobile. And if we compare mobile and computer, in my opinion there is still a big gap, especially in the processing power, that need to be solve in order to observe a switch. However, as you said it in your article, the development of current computers’ application to the mobile could maybe induce a switch to the mobile.
But in order to observe a total switch there are still some features that need to be improved/modify. Furthermore all developers need to switch from computer-based application to mobile-based application and therefore it might take some time.
Dear Ana thanks for your post. I believe that in the future laptops with smartphone advantages will emerge. An example is the development of increasing solid state storage which helps combine the advantages of a laptop with the memory speed of a mobile phone. A mobile phone is too small to efficiently work on, so a laptop with the speed and lightweight qualities of a mobile phone will be the development where firms will focus on for the future. A recent example of these developments is the Acer Swift 7 which is less than a centimeter thick (Techtimes, 2016). This shows that firms focus on thin and portable devices, but I believe that there will always be a strict separation between smartphones and laptops.
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/182363/20161014/acer-swift-7-worlds-thinnest-laptop-released-in-us-price-specs-and-availability.htm
Dear Ana,
Thank you for your blog post on this topic. I must say that this is fairly applicable to me. I do everything on my phone; checking social media, keeping in touch with friends and family, managing my bank account, searching for documents and more. However, I do not believe mobile phones could replace the personal computer entirely, since they cannot match their size and easiness factor. Especially for elderly people, but also for our generation, the screens of a mobile phone are too small to read a lot, it takes more time. I believe there is already a middle way though, namely the iPad. I see many students taking iPads to class and even my grandmother, who does not have a laptop, does almost everything on her iPad.
Hello, I think you are right about that computers will be used less. Nowadays you can almost do everything on a smartphone what we normally always did on a computer. But I think computers won’t be replaced. There are some things that are better to do on a computer screen. For example working or doing stuf for school. The problem for that is that a bigger screen works better and typing on a keyboard is easier and faster. The screens of computers are still much bigger than smartphones screens.