Apple’s release of the iPad in 2010 brought predictions about the end of the PC. New data suggests that date will begin in 2015, when it is expected that more people access the internet via mobile devices than with personal computers. The prediction has 2.7 billion people online, which is 40% of the world’s population. Most of the access will be provided by tablets and smartphones, but the proliferation of those devices has fueled other devices, such as smart TVs. It’s all of these types of devices that will supplant the personal computer.

This change will affect the digital agency in three venues of marketing. The first venue is ecommerce. As more and more people go online we can expect them to make more purchases online. This development is not unique to the displacement of the PC, as it is computers and not necessarily mobile computers that will drive this trend. What will happen with the growth of mobile computing is the increasing access to the internet. Wi-fi hot spots will become even more common and free and will even penetrate into areas normally unavailable to broadband, let alone wi-fi. It’s that increasing connectivity from which the digital agency will profit.

As connectivity increases so to will remote working. What PC displacement will bring is cheaper and more capable portable computing. Businesses will find less and less reasons to restrain employees to desks in large cluttered rooms, when the same output (arguably more output) can be achieved in other locations. Those workers will need a centralized virtual location and the digital agency can profit from those increased enterprise locations. Companies may want to publish advertisements as a way to subsidize the cost of the virtual location, or they may just see an opportunity to increase their profits.

The third, and most lucrative, venue for increased digital marketing is local search. More and more people being connected and out and about means more searches for local services. Even directions to the nearest big box retailer sometimes require a search. A search is definitely required to find the best rate on an oil change or the best enchiladas in town. The displacement of the PC can only push people into making more inquiries online with their portable devices.

The Death of PC’s

Tags: apple, Digital Marketing, ecommerce, Microsoft, PC

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Digital Marketing, Microsoft, digital agency. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.