Influx

The PC no longer captures the excitement it once used to; it’s now reached the maturity phase of its lifecycle. A commodity where price is the only selling point and one brand, Dell has successfully positioned itself to own that dimension. The PC has simply been over-taken by cooler, sexier more dynamic devices: the wireless phone, the PDA, the MP3 player and the flat screen TV have all humbled the PC.

pc sales set to slow

The PC makers have missed a chance; instead of redefining the PC, they have tried to redefine their brands by moving into categories they had no experience or expertise in. Gateway is an example of this strategy failing, when it tried to move into consumer electronics.

PC makers need to seize the initiative and try to understand what the PC could evolve into. What consumers could really use? How it could connect together with other home entertainment devices? What its role in the home could really be?

If the manufacturers spent the time trying to answer these questions, we might see the dawning of a new exciting age for the PC.

fortune magazine on the future of the pc

Digital Lifestyles is one company, operating from outside the industy, who has seized the opportunity and dared to be different. Delivering what teens consumers want from a PC, with its hip-e computer.

hip e website