In the future will the PC have a place in the average home?

[Stephen Coates]

You have all made some very good points there.

I find it unlikely that consoles will completely replace computers in the near future. Because some people don't need computers/consoles at all and some people only want them for basic stuff which the computer they bought in the early 90s still does perfectly. e.g. My Dad's girlfriend only has a computer because one of her friends was getting rid of it (it is an old Pentium system with Win95).

I think having web based office applications can be quite good, but they do have their problems. Personally, I would prefer it if I had full control over what software I use and where my files are. Therefore I would much prefer to just install Office 2000 on my PC and use that as it does everything I want it to (except opening my electronics coursework which I did in Publisher 2002 and forgot to save in Publisher 2000 format). I don't have to worry about the server not working, or the internet connection not working etc.

In schools, Everything is quite central anyway, because all the computer have exactly the same software on them - Microsoft Office and AspexDraw (+ a few other bits and pieces). More specialist software such as PCB Wizard is on the file server and can easily be accessed on any machine in school (although occaisionally when the network is running slowley, you may have to wait several minutes). All our work is saved onto the file server as well so can be accessed anywhere in school, unless we chose to save it onto a floppy or a flash drive instead. This does mean that we can not access work that is on the fileserver at home, but there are several options there. School has provided an email address for everyone which can be used to email work, or you could usea flash drive or a floppy. I think the majority of people have a flash drive, but if you don't have either flash drive or floppy I can't see why the ICT department wouldn't give you a floppy to use.

So really, I don't think web based applications would be that much different in schools.

[Harrison]

This had been true of most larger businesses and academic institutes for quite a few years now as they all tend to use a domain server with centralised shared folders, with each student and teacher given their own access rights and storage space for their personal files and work. We used to have such a setup at university years ago.

But as you say, this is limited to access within the domain servers LAN so these files, resources and applications cannot be used from home or other off site locations. Also currently only select applications or utilities tend to be hosted on the central server and accessed from each PC or terminal, instead requiring most of the actual programs to be installed locally on each PC system.

The idea behind all of the ideas I mentioned above have been in practice for a long time, right back to the first main frames in fact as they used a central main frame linked to from terminals, so all files and applications were on a central system and the terminals just logged into and accessed the resources. This is the core of what is currently being pushed on the internet as Web 2. The browser is the local terminal, and the servers you access on the internet are the central main frame. So in fact we are finally going full circle back to the beginning. Central data and resource storing with remote terminal access. This does work well for the majority of computer based activities when implemented correctly, and so I wouldn't be surprised to see this coming true very soon with many applications being remote browser based applications that we run in our browsers instead of on our desktop.

[Demon Cleaner]

One main aspect of a PC is of course emulation, as you don't need the consoles to play the games, less nostalgic but not less fun.

[Harrison]

This is true, although as consoles continue to increase in power many more emulators do continue to be ported. PCs will always be the best platform for emulation though, but emulation is far from a mainstream area of PC use. I'm always surprised that hardly any average computer users don't even know what emulation is.

[Submeg]

They dont know what it is because they dont even think it would be possible to play such games anymore...

One thing that would be cool would be using the Wii to browse the net.....just pointing the remote at what you wished to select....and you could use one of those roll up keyboards that use USB...

[TiredOfLife]

I remember when I first started working, using dumb terminals.
Nothing stored locally, just connected to a central mainframe.
Later we got computers with the software installed on the drive.
We are now talking about going back to services being located centrally and accessing them through the web.
Strange how things go full circle.
In this case the idea behind it makes sense.
Some of our apps are licensed based.
We know that not all the licences are being used all the time.
Therefore if we used web based programs, a licence would only be given to a user when it was actually in use.
Means we can buy a lot less licenses.
As for the home computer dissapearing, I'm not so sure.
I can see them becoming more usefull as technology improves.
I can see them being used to control the whole household.
Eight point were listed with the quote "not much really"
I disagree, think about how much time you spend over the eight points.
Soon it will be easier to download TV content onto your computer.
Already have TV cards I know but that will be the tip of the iceberg.
I do my food shopping online.
I can see a time when the fridge tells your computer that is out of milk and the computer orders it over the web.
Heating, lighting, security systems and entertainment systems all controlled by a computer.
Access your computer from work and tell it record a broadcast you had forgotten to set the timer for.

[Harrison]

But a lot of what you mention TiredOfLife is how computer enthusists and long term computer users use a PC. The point I am trying to make is that the average family home isn't that computer literate compared to us. They have very basic needs compared to what we require a PC for, and given the option to simplify their computer life down to a console like system then has an easy to use OS that will not suddenly crash and stop booting without paying for someone to reinstall the OS for them is what they are looking for.

Plus many of the things you have mentioned can already be achived without the need for a computer.

Recording programs remotely is already possible with standalone TV boxes. Plus you can already access your Sky Digibox from the internet or a 3G remote control, access the complete TV listings in the Sky guide and set any of them up for recording to the Sky Plus or Sky HD harddrive.

Some fridges already exist that can reorder food directly from their built in touch screen computers.

Security, lighting, heating etc can also already be controlled remotely over the internet, but should such systems be tied into a PC or a small standalone computer connected the the house's network?

I think the future will not be a central PC, but a series of computer based systems networked together and all connected to a central rooter which in turn connects them all to the internet for remote access. Of course this is already all possible if you have the money. But again, I don't think the average home would want or need most of the things mentioned here. Most people are just not that bothered by technology, unless it is a mobile phone!

[Stephen Coates]

This is true, although as consoles continue to increase in power many more emulators do continue to be ported. PCs will always be the best platform for emulation though, but emulation is far from a mainstream area of PC use. I'm always surprised that hardly any average computer users don't even know what emulation is.

Maybe they arn't interested in emulation.