The future of laptops and laptops of the future

A lot of people keep saying that in a few years, laptops will die out as a class. The question begs, and then what will come to replace them? Making forecasts is a thankless task. Nevertheless, it is now clear that the answer to the question “What will be the laptop of the future?” lies in three planes: economic viability, consumer properties and technological readiness. The needs of users set the vector for the development of technologies, technologies push manufacturers to invest in the modernization of production, which in turn affects the cost of devices and is either accepted or rejected by the market. Simply put, it all comes down to the question of whether users are willing to pay to meet new, constantly emerging technology needs. Or (on the other hand), how much money producers are willing to spend on introducing a new technology until it becomes mass (and therefore cheaper in production) and begins to "return" the money invested in it. Let's look at each of these components separately.

 Technologies

 The main incentive for manufacturers to invest in the development of new technologies is the desire to get profit from them earlier than others. Companies invest in progress for the only reason: only the first can earn on it, while the rest will have to join the race in the role of “catching up” and spend money on re-equipping their own production in order to survive. With equal specifications, the price will only fall, and the margin will decrease. In such a situation, “following the leader” there are very few ways to attract customers - for example, through design. With new products, it is always easier to gain market share. But it must be remembered that the new technology most often does not cancel, but complements the existing ones. For example, no matter how we are fond of touchscreens, the feel of the keyboard is still important, especially in long-term work. No on-screen keyboard can replace this feeling. The bottom line is that when you press the key, the user receives tactile feedback (this, in particular, allows you to print blindly). To solve this problem, I think that engineers will have to spend almost more time than creating the “laptop of the future” itself. They are already trying to solve it: an interesting example is the keyboard developed by Blackberry in 2008 for the Storm 9500 phone, however, and it still cannot be considered revolutionary.

 Consumer properties

 Technologies form new needs, and with it new classes of devices. The most striking example is tablets. According to some forecasts, tablet PCs will become more popular than laptops next year - however, they still can not completely replace them. Although, having grasped the advantages provided by tablets, manufacturers began to make their laptops partly similar to tablets. They have become lighter, most are now made with a touch screen, and more and more laptops have become transformed into a tablet using mounts and special rotary mechanisms. In addition to GIGABYTE, such hybrid devices are produced by many brands, for example, Fujitsu, Dell, Lenovo. While this is a niche solution, but it has quite a lot of prospects, and the main reason for this is its versatility. In essence, this is a three-in-one computer; It is indispensable for those who are constantly on the run and constantly working. These are mainly business people. It is important for them to maintain their usual operating parameters, while being able to use a laptop as a tablet and - sometimes - as a processor for a desktop monitor (using the docking station, it is much more convenient to do this, and it takes less time on the table). All this together gives a very important consumer value - ultra-mobility. True, there is a "fly in the ointment." Some people mistrust such devices, because they either do not understand them or are afraid that it is more difficult to repair an apparatus that is too complicated. But now ultra-thin ultrabooks-transformers appear in our assortment. In weight they are closer to the tablet, and thanks to this, the utility value of their versatility is even higher. There are no doubts that the popularity of such solutions will grow. Do not forget that the most valuable qualities for a laptop user are, first of all, performance and convenience. A laptop should be able to do a lot, and weigh a little. As a working machine, it should be universal - quickly process information, have a good graphics card and many interfaces. Of course, the brand-price ratio is always of great importance, since now by “brand” users mean quality guaranteed by a large manufacturer. And, of course, for a huge layer of consumers, the price of the device will always be of paramount importance.                                       

Economy consideration

Even if a revolutionary device appears on the market in the near future, the notebook market, as well as their concept, will not change much. The development of technologies, of course, does not always mean their appreciation. Nevertheless, we can predict a slight increase in the price of high-tech new products, but not their quantity. To illustrate this idea will help the situation prevailing in the laptop market today. If we trace the cyclical nature of the market, we can soon expect a return to stabilizing sales. Most users (one way or another) follow the development of progress, and, guided by their purchasing power, work needs, change the laptop every 3-5 years. The coincidence of all indicators ensures very good sales once every several years, but this does not mean steady growth - in our time this can only be said in the case of the emergence of a new technology that is valuable to users.                        

Instead of a conclusion

Of course, a laptop as an idea and architecture will still remain for at least the next two decades. Quite a few factors support this. In particular, the same tablets, without departing from the idea of their autonomy and simplicity, they still tend to return to the concept of a laptop in some details. Today, companies create them together with an attached or additional keyboard in the kit, and other accessories (ASUS Eee Pad Transformer or GIGABYTE S1185 and S1082 can serve as examples of such devices). In terms of technology, there are practically no restrictions. For example, a solution to a virtual keyboard problem may lie in the plane of material 3D. Probably the next step in hardware progress will be made in the field of wireless technologies (in particular, new battery charging technologies). It is, of course, difficult to predict the far horizons of the future. But today, many (including me) agree that the laptop of the future will look like one big and very thin plate of the screen. Already, OLED technology is being actively created and tested. It allows you to make the laptop flexible and turn the screen plate into a tablet. But whether it will be folded into a tube, folded with a handkerchief or will consist of one keyboard with a searchlight for the screen, will depend on the level of technology and the willingness of the consumer market to process these technologies. In any case, it should remain practical, easy and common for working - just a laptop.

About the author

Melisa Marzett is a freelance writer with years of experience. She was working as a journalist and a translator but cherished a dream to become a successful writer. Currently working for writing services http://findwritingservice.com as an essay writer, she is a paper rewriter on this and that and enjoys every single moment of her life.

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