Laptops outsell desktops

From today's L.A. Times, laptops outsold desktops in the U.S. in 2007.

We are moving away from the big, powerful desktop way of using the computer. Our access to the internet is now mobile, small, and fast. Second Life, with its extensive hardware requirements, is designed for the stationary desktop experience. And we are leaving that behind.

I've been saying for years that computers are now more powerful than we could possibly need, and someday I will be right. And we are getting closer to that point. Something like the IPhone or the Nokia N800 provides just about everything we could want out of the casual internet in a handheld, wireless device.

In addition to all this, I think that environmental concerns will eventually lead us away from the ever-more-powerful desktop cycle. Multi-gigahertz processors suck up electricity like mad--and generate massive heat that needs to be expensively cooled. As the number of computer users across the world grows exponentially, this is not good. There is now a market for environmentally-friendly goods, and companies are now realizing that. Within the next year, you will see computer manufactures offering lower-powered, less-expensive hardware marketed as "green" PCs. (There already is one being sold at WalMart,) and there will be a very good-sized demand.

Not only has Linden Labs created an application that demands more power than desired by the casual internet user, Microsoft has made the same mistake with Vista.

Simple, accessible, mobile. The hardware and software designers that understand these words will be the ones who are successful in 2008 and beyond.