Comment Articles

The PC says: 'I'm not dead'

Guy Kewney AnchorDesk

Published: 29 Mar 2000 16:24 BST

The PC is not with us for ever; not as long as The Poor, certainly. And there are things we spend more money on; and there are things which move more data about. Why is it so hard for people to understand, however, that the personal computer has a specific definition, and that it is, and will remain, a useful device to have?

Latest red herring over the waterfall appears to be an announcement from IBM saying that its new silicon "will transform set top boxes into fully interactive, two way information appliances."

The phrase does sound exciting! The "two-way" especially, conjures up a vision of a new type of interactivity, beyond anything a humble PC can do. But what does the phrase actually mean? Well, here's a couple of examples of two-way interactive information appliances: a cellular phone; a Automatic Teller Machine; the needle on your car rev counter; a digital readout on a public weighing machine...

A computer is not an information appliance. An information appliance is something with a specific function. By contrast, a computer is a device for loading and running software. Inherent in the design is its general purpose nature; and inherent in that is one, very crucial factor.

It is this: you do not know what a computer is going to be used for when you design it. You are building something which will acquire characteristics that you may never have envisaged.

The question of how you design this thing is secondary to the fact that you must leave its design open-ended; the question of where you put it is secondary to the question of who controls it. And on both counts, the idea that IBM's set top box could replace the PC, becomes instantly absurd.

Read on...