Many information technology research and analysis firms, including famed television ratings polling company Nielson are reporting that use of personal computers to access the aInternet is dropping. More specifically, the PC based net audience has shown a reduced growth rate to three percent for a six month period during 2008.
While this is still a positive change, it pales in comparison to the twenty-five percent spurt in usage shown by overall participation inn mobile internet. That growth is primarily based upon a proliferation of Internet access via handheld devices using data lines. It is of course difficult to determine whether Internet access of a laptop tethered to a Blackberry or G1 differs from WiFi access or that same laptop using an aircard. It is expected that handsets will evolve further to the point of being functional micro-mini PCs.
Popular new netbooks or mini-notebooks such as the Dell Mini 9 or Acer Aspire 1 are expected to transition horizontally, becoming an all purpose hybrid communications centre. This cross-evolution merely awaits production of lower priced solid state storage devices capable of containing at least 100 Gigabytes of information. In either case, it would appear that the stationary PC will soon reach a negative growth factor as desktop computers are relegated strictly to the office.
