What will laptops be like in 2025? Will laptops even still be around? There is already talk of us being in a "post-PC" era by then, many people believe we are already approaching it. The belief is that with the introduction and continued innovation of smartphones and tablets, bulkier devices such as desktop computers and even laptops may be phased out. It's possible that the only laptops that will still be around will be similar to the hybrids we have today; tablets with a keyboard attachment (Kingsley-Hughes, 2014). While this is possible, I still believe that there will be some things that these smaller devices will not be able to do, such as high-end gaming and graphic/video design. While the smaller mobile technology in 2025 may be better than the laptops we know today, I doubt they will be able to match the power of laptops that could be built in that era. Gaming is very popular, and continues to grow. In a survey from 2013, it was shown that 50% of total Canadians were gamers, but 90% of Canadian kids and teens were gamers. That proportion of total gamers should be higher already, and even more so by 2025. The platform of choice by those polled? Computers, at 36%, followed by consoles at 33%, tablets/smartphones at 25%, and finally handheld consoles at 6% (Globe & Mail, 2013). Gaming has become so popular, that there are even world championships, some of which are televised. The phenomenon known as League of Legends is a great example of this. Over 32 million people watched the 2013 World Championship, including a sold out Staples Centre in LA where it was held (Redbeard, 2014). Below is a picture of the festivities. This is the same arena where the NHL team the LA Kings play.
Innovation
Assuming laptops will still be around in 10 years, what changes can we expect? Surely the processing power will be stronger and available in smaller sizes, along with better screen resolution. But they'll need more than that to remain appealing outside of tasks that require powerful machines. There is a fascinating article from 2010 called 15 Future-Laptop Concepts: The Fascinating and the Far-fetched by Jeff Bertolucci. The common theme among the majority of the featured concepts is flexible screens. In some cases the screen are even able to be rolled up and stored in a carrying tube. As the title states, the article features 15 different laptop concepts, and there are some really interesting ones. The ASUS Dual Screen Portable is a hybrid with dual screen capabilities, and also capable of working with a projected/virtual keyboard. The most amazing one though is called the Saifu, which is capable of transferring 2D images on a screen into 3D shapes on a tablet that you can actually touch. It also has voice recognition, allowing it to be used without a keyboard. Think of the benefit this could be to people whom are visually impaired, not only could eBooks be available in braille, but also allow them to "see" photographs to some extent.
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