The PC Turns 25... Oh, I Remember When You Were Just This BIG!

IBM launched its' first personal computer 25 years ago this month in 1981. According to an article in this week's The Economist, we are meant to mark this IBM anniversary as THE benchmark that saw the first PC "that ended up defining the standards around which a vast new industry then coalesced".

The article goes on to say that we should also be celebrating what this PC brought to all of humankind: cheaper computers, more readily and widely available, more useful, and of course, the ever-advancing and evolving new technologies, from voice-over-internet to online commerce, to the overall communications Mecca that we all could now never live without (!).

What's interesting about this article, and what makes you say, "Ah, yes, indeed, indeed...", is where the PC is going. And the answer is: nowhere. It's done. Job over. It's brought us all along to the best of its' ability and now we must turn it over, pass the conge, flip over the new leaf, and crown a new innovator in technology of the future: The Mobile.

Obvious facts about the Mobile: cheaper, smaller, simpler, we all have one. Countries in the developing world use the mobile phone as their only option to conduct business if they are to compete with developed nations. Merchants, bankers, aid workers, health workers throughout Africa already use mobile phones to advance their businesses and the economy. It's far more feasible, accessible, easier and much, much cheaper.

Once the guru web firms of the world brings the world wide web in all of its' glory to the mobile phone, we may have no real need for the PC, but happy birthday... enjoy it while it lasts.

To read the full article from The Economist, you can subscribe online, or by mail.