Google Predicts Desktop Decline

John Herlihy, Google’s vice president of Global Ad Operations, claims that desktop PCs will become “irrelevant” in three years.

Addressing the Digital Landscapes Conference, Herlihy predicted a bleak future for desktop PCs. He thinks smartphones, netbooks and other gadgets are gaining ground over them.

“In three years time, desktops will be irrelevant,” he said. “In Japan, most research is done today on smartphones, not PCs.”

Not coincidentally, Google CEO Eric Schmidt says global sales of smartphones and other high-end hand-held devices have been soaring at a rapid pace and will surpass sales of traditional PCs very son.

“This has huge implications for the learning field, as we look toward supporting learning through a new and broader range of mobile based resources,” says Elliot Masie of The Masie Center. To that end, “learning designers will need to refocus their design sensibilities toward a smaller footprint and very different type of learning application.”

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