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Ballmer: PCs will be around ‘for many years to come’

The chief executive of Microsoft has hit back at Steve Jobs’ claim that the PC is dead.

By Jennifer Scott, 4 Jun 2010 at 12:31

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The PC still has a lot of life left in it, according to the chief executive (CEO) of Microsoft.

Steve Ballmer defended the style of computer during the D8 conference in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

He was responding to comments from Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, who claimed earlier in the week at the conference that PCs had passed their sell by date.

"I think people are going to be using PCs in greater and greater number for many years to come," said Ballmer.

He admitted there would be a “shift in form factor” but added: “PCs will look different next year, year after, year after that."

It has been a tough few weeks for Microsoft, with Apple overtaking the company in revenue terms and Google catching up fast. Add to that Google reportedly banning Windows from its worker’s machines and it can’t be all smiles down in the Redmond HQ.

Ballmer admitted his company is “dealing with the fact that we're no longer at the front of that pack,” but added: “It's our job to out-work them, out-innovate them [and] out-hustle them.”

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1 comments

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Partially right...

I think the PC has a short term future, at least. Touch and speech recognition will improve how we interact with computers going forward, but we also need the general flexibility of the computer, that we have become used to.

I like my iPhone and the iPad is a great device, but it isn't a replacement for a traditional computer, in its current form.

I think it shows great promise and it certainly works in touch situations better than a Windows 7 tablet, but it doesn't offer the power and flexibility that a traditional computer offers.

I have about a dozen different apps open and running in the background, I am installing IE8 on a computer in a remote office 300KM away, I have 2 chat clients open, I have iTunes in the background, I have a web browser with 20 tabs open, Evernote, Excel, Outlook etc.

The iPhone and iPad offer one app after the other, so I couldn't leave the remote session installing, whilst I type this...

The power increases in the mobile chips will allow the devices to do more over time, we just need to add-in multi-tasking in a way that makes sense, in terms of the UI.

But, for the office worker, a traditional computer still makes more sense. They need access to a simple desktop environment, allowing them to run a couple of bespoke applications, or perhaps an office suite - and do lots of typing.

The iPad can do a lot of the individual tasks, but it can't do them all at the same time. Likewise, it needs the dock and keyboard, in order to allow the user to type in lots of text quickly and effectively.

Until a better, more reliable solution to the keyboard is found, a heavy weight business device is still going to need one.

The iPad would make a good executive information device, but not a data entry device, in its current form.