The reason I didn't buy a new pc this year is because the one I currently have is doing just fine.
Cory Doctorow has a great piece entitled The Coming War on General Purpose Computation that rides right along this "because obsolescence isn't working".
I've noticed I drastically used my desktop less as soon as I got a laptop. I assume most people are the same. And yea, I'll buy a laptop whenever mine breaks, but that's like more than 3 years. Point is that most people don't need or want a desktop. And a laptop will suit them just fine. that's why PC sales are down.
I have worked in IT in a corporate environment before. The people that worked in the building were programmers and power users, and they were mostly working on Dell Optiplex 745 small form factor. Those PC's did their job and we hardly had to replace any of them. Although their age was starting to show -- we were having stability issues, those machines worked hard.
I do most everything on the Lenovo IdeaPad I got almost two years ago. We have an iPad, but I can't think of anything to do with it except as using it as a stereo; that's what we do with it. I write, I code. I need a keyboard. We often hook up my IdeaPad to our TV to stream Netflix. My phone is a completely different device. It's mostly for messaging, email, navigation, and weather. I'm pretty sure I want to replace it with a smartwatch when they are good enough.
I'm so in love with those smartwatches already too. I can't wait
In my case, I've discovered that I don't even need a laptop any more or most things. I use a desktop at home/work, and a smartphone for email and browsing on the move. I have a laptop, but it's rarely used nowadays. So yeah, obsolescence ain't working as well any more.
I have a MacBook Air and it does just fine for what I use it for. I don't need another computer. The only reason I bought this one is that my old MacBook was... well, heavy as hell comparatively speaking. I will often carry my computer with me to bars, coffee shops etc to work. While my Air is light now I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years it feels like a brick compared to what is available. I will pony up some $ for increased comfort as long as it doesn't come at the expense of increased storage. But I'm probably on an every 3-4 year cycle right now.
Do you have the new 2013 version, or the last model? I upgraded from a giant acer laptop to my tiny 13" 2013 Mac Air, and the difference is astonishing (even though the acer is better spec'd). I don't carry my charging cord anywhere, and I can pretty much use it all day (yesterday I went from 9am to 10pm while using it normally). And it runs pretty damn fast too. I cringe when I see other people use their slow hard drives :P. I'm like "why isn't that opening?" And then I notice it's just because my mac is too fast. Damn I love this thing. My only complaint is that I should've spent a bit more and got a bigger hard drive.
Hi, Not to come off as an asshole, but the 2013 Mac Air actually has an SSD. What's even more cool is that the SSDs used in the Mac Airs use a PCIe slot. Most SSDs now are still connected over SATA which is what almost all HDDs are connected too. I am really excited that Apple went ahead and included a PCIe SSD card. Hopefully the rest of the industry will follow and we will all have smaller laptops pretty soon! PCIe slot SSDs are already used for very high performance tasks. For example this is using a PCIe slot and it's incredibly fast.
I never said otherwise :). Apple just happened to do it first, which is great. I've seen some other great laptops too, but the mac went above and beyond my expectations. I definitely can't wait until this type of stuff (haswell processors and PCIe SSDs) are common in every laptop. Edit: I just realized that I use the term "hard drive" for any drive (SSD or not). I understand that is incorrect. whoops.
Completely agree. It is absolutely a matter of comfort and not at all a matter of function.