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The PC is 'going the way of typewriters' says IBM

Andrew Wooden

by Andrew Wooden
Thursday, August 11th 2011 at 11:56AM

The PC is 'going the way of typewriters' says IBM

The PC has had its day, according to the co-inventor of the first ever model.

Mark Dean, who is now chief technology officer IBM Middle East and Africa, hails the tablet as his new favourite computing device.

He says: “When I helped design the PC, I didn’t think I’d live long enough to witness its decline. But, while PCs will continue to be much-used devices, they’re no longer at the leading edge of computing. They’re going the way of the vacuum tube, typewriter, vinyl records, CRT and incandescent light bulbs.”

The post-PC era is a term that’s been banded around in recent years, and its clearly a buzz-term IBM takes literally, having shed its PC hardware business six years ago.

Dean adds: “It may be odd for me to say this, but I’m also proud IBM decided to leave the personal computer business in 2005, selling our PC division to Lenovo. While many in the tech industry questioned IBM’s decision to exit the business at the time, it’s now clear that our company was in the vanguard of the post-PC era.”

It also abandoned its disk drives and printers business in the last ten years.

What it does do is spend lots on R&D – about a $6 billion per year. This department produces a host of tech, but its more often than not in the background.

Recently it came up with the question-and-answer technology in the Watson computer, which in February defeated former champions on US game show Jeopardy.

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Tags: pc, ibm, typewriters

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