3 responses to “What the PC slump really means”

1. 

   Chris July 17th, 2012 at 16:03

   Do you know, I personally believe that one significant reason for for a slump in notebook sales is the move to a 16:9 screen aspect ratio as almost standard. While 1388×768 may be great for videos (I don’t know; I never watch videos on my notebook), it is lousy for working, especially with the current trend to using more and more vertical real estate for menu bars, ribbons, toolbars, etc. With Word, you get almost no room for the text!

   Seems curious that while most tablets consider portrait mode as ‘standard’, notebooks insist we work in a greaty limited landscape mode.

   Bring back 4:3 1280×800 and I’ll buy a new notebook!

   Chris

2. 

   Van July 17th, 2012 at 21:40

   PC sales should surge when XP support runs out in 2014. It’ll take creative marketing and deep discounts to make some PCers jump in 2013.

3. 

   rc primak July 22nd, 2012 at 14:29

   Van, you may have hit the nail on the head, but not for businesses, which are a significant part of Microsoft’s license market (unlike Apple, which has only a small business presence). Businesses are still migrating rom Windows XP to Windows 7, and will almost certainly not be upgrading any further anytime soon. So, PC sales will continue to languish, especially with most consumers in the developed world having less disposable income during the current worldwide recession.

   As for the Widescreen aspect ratio and productive work, I often snap windows side by side (to compare versions or to move content from one app or document to another). A widescreen monitor works very well for this. And if I want to have apps or shortcuts readily available, they can sit in columns on either side of the working area of a document-width app window. Very handy, and not as easy with a square or 4:3 ratio.