7 Reasons why the Desktop isn’t Dead.

Recently I read a blog from the BITS (Business Innovation Technology Society) blog of the NYTimes entitled “The Desktop: It’s Alive!” I found this to be a very good read, both informative and thought provoking.  Now I am not sure it is fully alive, but rather in a zombie-esque state.  I say zombie because the desktop market certainly isn’t coming back fully, but rather it is having a revival period – which doesn’t necessarily have to end right away.

Why Desktops Make Sense?

1)  The growth of expanding markets - The BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) are purchasing a huge amount of IT.  These users desire the speed and capabilities offered by desktops – not to mention the small footprint and low cost of today’s “nettop” desktop replacements.  Desktops offer options like multiple digital output, speedy network access, and powerful graphics capabilities.

2) Desktops are just plain cheaper – many users already have monitors, keyboards, and mice, thus they don’t need to purchase these when getting a new machine.  This substantially lowers the cost to purchase a new desktop.  Nettops, which are very capable desktops with a small footprint, can be had for around $300.  Users desire the capabilities of these new machines, their elegant lines, and the inexpensive price tag.  Nettops, like netbooks, have substantially dropped the barrier to entry for technology adoption.

3) Desktop Power and Capabilities - desktops are more powerful, more capable, and provide users with more storage capabilities.  Users desiring to play games w/ 3D graphics prefer desktops almost exclusively, for their ability to have powerful, yet inexpensive graphics options.

4) Desktops offer upgradeability –  desktops, unlike most laptops, allow users to upgrade any component.  This feature lets users spend $500 every 2 years or so to refresh their computer to keep it viable, or $500 every year to keep it extremely powerful.  When I upgraded my tower pc to Core i7, I spent $500 for a Core i7 920 processor, 6GB of DDR3 12800MHz RAM, and very powerful ASUS motherboard (the P6T deluxe v2).  I simply plugged in my current HDDs, my GPUs, and my ODDs into the new motherboard and was off to the races.  Items like the case, the power supply, and optical drives (until blu-ray is completely necessary – if it ever is) are initial investments, requiring almost no upgrades over a long period of time.

5) Desktops are less likely to break, and easier to fix - It is a lot harder to break desktops, in part because they are not lugged around.  Also, since components are not limited to OEM nor are they integrated, replacement parts are much cheaper.  If you break your monitor on a desktop – simply purchase a new one for under $100, if you break the LCD on a laptop – it will be a painful and expensive fix.  Enterprises similarly like desktops because they are also harder to steal and easier to maintain.

What’s holding back their replacements?

1) Thin Clients are not widely adopted yet - Thin clients provide the enterprise with an extremely viable desktop computer replacement options.  Thin clients allow users to plug into virtual machines that reside on their server, following the user to any terminal.  Users run accepted versions of operating systems and applications hosted on the server – decreasing need for IT administration staff.  I think part of the problem is the initial outlay required to replace every endpoint (few enterprises seem to want to replace just pieces with thin clients) and in a recessionary time, IT spending is not encouraged.  The TCO profile of Thin Clients is that they will pay for themselves quickly, but market adoption has not been great.  Eventually, a thin client with near unlimited bandwidth will be able to do all the things that we think are the province of powerful desktop workstations now.

2) There is a lack of Docking Stations and Replicators – until we have a powerful, dual monitor universal laptop docking station solutions, I think users will shy away from completely replacing a desktop with a laptop.  USB 2.0 does not have the bandwidth to transfer enough data to power 2 large monitors, as well provide bandwidth to host Ethernet connections, keyboards, mice, and additional HDDs.  As we’ve lost expresscard ports, it’s about time something replaced them, and I believe that a USB 3.0 docking station could perform all these tasks.  With USB 3.0, it could even be possible to have a discrete graphics option in the docking station.  When universal Docking Stations become standard (and powerful) technology, laptops will have the chance to replace desktops.

I know these aren’t all the reasons that desktops will be kept around, so if you have some I’d love to hear them.

Also, please leave experience with giving up desktops/switching to laptops, and thoughts on enterprises doing the same.

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Thanks!