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-Tomorrow's (2025) PC Page- |
Fox
Engineering Inc.
PO Box 215 Spencerville, MD 20868 |
| CPU: |
Multiple
cores required, 4 or more are readily available,
already growing to 6 to 12 especially
when combined with hyperthreading; operating speed should remain fairly
constant around 2.4 to 3.4 Ghz Non-Intel (x86, x64) platforms are growing too...the Raspberry Pi ARM processors, some Microsoft technology using laptop ARM for Windows (will Windows ride on Linux; Linux today can ride on Windows) may bring non-Intel technology to the forefront. |
| Memory: | 8 GBytes becomming more common as a "default" with 16GB and even 32GB also appearing. Look not only the default configuration but how memory could be expanded leveraging existing memory and adding more; look for expansion capability. Leverage multi-channel configurations for faster memory access; emerging battery backup to keep memory "alive" at power down, or even some new non-volitile memory without a battery backup. (Note: the concept of power down is changing...more like hibernation/sleep rather than power off and reboot from scratch) |
| Case: | probably
smaller than you think, sometimes tightly embedded into other
devices. I still like the physical desktop device. |
| Keyboard: | Still in
use...more touch panels, wireless keyboards, more touch
panels/keyboards on tablets/laptops/"blackboards". |
| Pointing Device: | optical
mouse (still with us); other common pointing devices too, including
pens and touchpads. |
| Floppy Disk: | Historical artifact of the very distant past (in a galaxy
far, far, away) |
| Main Storage Drive: | We'll see
more Solid State Disk (SSD, perhaps commonly
reaching
2 to 4 TB even hybrid mixed SSD and hard drive). SSD prices are coming
down and very affordable for large storage; SSDs not suitable for archival storage
due to charge
leakage that will change bit states if not accessed. (SSDs rely on
charge storage to
identify bit state). SSD's and M.2 storage especially promote
improved performance both at computer startup and in general use.
Note: there will be a greater trend to have a small disk in the user device with most of the storage (perhaps even the processing itself) hosted in "cloud" services and/or network services. Cloud services present multiple challenges including availability, privacy, security, and of course the cost of such services. |
| Optical Disk Drive: | Flash drives
have rapidly replaced optical media to a much larger extent...many
desktop
computers today have no optical drives, especially with some software
delivery via download stream, iso images, and flash drives. |
| Video: Video Board: |
Most
common for average use will leverage the on-chip video capability of
the processor as well as using main memory for "screen space." However for gaming use (and high performance video applications) - sometimes sophisticated video components are needed with loads of memory (additional power and cabinate space most likely required).Faster graphics processors and many cores; memory is growing too, exceeding 4 GBytes, game technology is driving the technology; multiple monitors, 3D capable, touch capable. |
| Video Display LED/LCD: | With TVs in
2023
reaching 75" and more, display technology will ripple down every
year. Using
TVs is easy, but a 60" or even a 32" display sitting within 24" on a
desktop, for
common average usage,
doesn't seem practical. Look for 24" to 32" displays in 2023 to be more
common, curved displays more common, even very wide curved displays
instead of multiple side-by-side displays - all leveraging 4K monitors
and multiple stacked monitors for
workstations - perhaps 2 x 2 for serious business
analytics. LED
backlight, high resolution, photo corrected, touch featured, and
Organic displays will cover the landscape. Resolution will be High Def
(2048 or higher). The commonality of HDMI from the computer to
the display and digital display ports (DP) may see the disappearance of
SVGA; some computer models today no longer have VGA capabilities. Touch may be touted, but for desktop usage of displays 24" from one's face make touch impactical in this setting. |
| Sound Board: | Most
motherboards have sound built-in |
| Speakers: | Probably
embedded into the Video Display |
| Internet Connectivity: | Broadband service probably
available in all urban areas with 75 mb to 100 mb download speeds as a
baseline; FIOS / Fiber services more extensive uses a WAN/LAN router at 1000 mb and better speeds, with an economic / minimal baseline of about 100 mb. Cable and Fiber services extending upwards to 1,000 mb perhaps even greater will certainly proliferate. ADSL on wired telephone lines may be coming obsolete especially as copper POTS lines go away and the demand for broader bandwidth increases. The explosion of Zoom video conferencing, streaming products, and work-from-home, etc. will drive high download / upload needs. (Note:
Firewall absolutely required
and still needed; multiple layers of routers and isolation of IOT
devices needed)
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| LAN: | 2.5 Gb
Ethernet emerging, perhaps also 4 Gb ethernet too, even in home
environments. Wireless at both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum continues to grow wireless becoming the prefered transport mechanism in many houses. WiFi speeds are increasing although not matching wired speeds...however it may be sufficient form most needs, including multi-player gaming and multi-user households. |
| Operating System: | As
improvements continue in Windows 10 and 11, for a security, bugs, and feature upgrades, more businesses will move from
Windows 7
(no longer commonly supported) to Windows 10 perhaps Windows 11 (In 2013, many corporate enterprises were moving from
Windows XP to Windows 7 - an extraordinary expense for any enterprise.
The emergence of Windows 11 will see the growing focus. Home
systems will see greater usage of Windows 11 with new computer
purchases, and the upgrades from existing installed home base of
Windows 10 machines - although some / many home systems will not be able to migrate to
Windows 11. Enterprises may stay with Windows 10 for a while
before moving to
perhaps
Windows 11 but that will probably diminish as various five year
infrastructure cycles mature, as the devices become fully depreciated,
and Windows 10 is no longer
supported. The emergence of Windows 12 may alter the landscape. Home-type users will likely lead the adoption of Windows 11 in business environments as people acquire new laptops/desktops/tablets and that adoption will benefit business and reduce the training needed in moving from Windows Windows 10 to Windows 11. 64-bit is in, 32-bit is out perhaps gone in a few years. Beyond that, perhaps 32-bit will be long gone maybe gone the way of 16-bit operating systems. Linux 64-bit will continue to grow with 32-bit Linux being phased out. |
| Green IT: | Still important, greater energy efficiency in power supplies, better management of "vampire" power consumption, and more recyclable components. |
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NOTE
Any names/trademarks used are NOT an endorsement of those items...but are provided for reference only and are owned by their respective owners. Name Brand suggestions are not all inclusive. |
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