The computer desk is dead
Guest blogger Michael Banovsky writes the first official eulogy for modern furniture.
Image courtesy of Paul Sullivan on Flickr.com
Last night I realized the computer desk is dead. Not just the heavy clump of once-functional oak in the corner of my girlfriend’s apartment, stuffed with old papers and AOL internet discs. Her computer desk, dusty and disused, is but one of many relics across this country that sit idle in our homes.
The computer desk is dead.
Now that you’ve heard it, I doubt you’ll need convincing. I mean, it’s easy enough to justify the worth of your desk in terms of how long it took you to decipher the indecipherable assembly instructions, and how many pounds of installation disks and photo paper it now holds. (Saying: “This glossy paper, kids, is for special occasions” meant you only used five out of 20 sheets, right?)
Nights spent defragmenting hard drives and downloading the latest Metallica album from Napster are long gone. Gone, too, are the mountain of supplies you once needed for “personal home computing.” (Their words, not mine.)
Mouse pads, keyboard pads, CD spindles, plastic monitor-mounted document holders, printer supplies, the printer itself, that drawer that holds your USB 1.0 hub and an unholy number of paper clips, your stack of installation discs…
That desk there? It’s a tech crypt. Wait a few more years and it may be declared a World Heritage Site.
Let’s talk about the future: When’s the last time anyone waited overnight, in the rain, to pick up the latest desktop PC? (And then lugged the 50 lb. box home, before spending an hour feeding cables through the impossibly tiny holes in the desk itself…)
The future of computing is all about the dozens of powerful laptops, netbooks, and tablets on the market. “Lap”top, not “desk”top—mall Santa would be far less fun operating behind a desk, I think you’d agree.
iPad 2, PlayBook, Xoom, Galaxy—the reasons to go PC and compute on the cheap are being shot down, one sexy tablet at a time, too.
I imagine we’ll feel a universal disconnect a few years from now when a desk is spotted at a yard sale, much the same feeling a writing table—ink well and all—does now.
“Ain’t it quaint, Maude?”
Don’t let me discourage you from buying a piece of particleboard antiquity, though, especially if you feel that your identity can be accurately summed up by the number of used ink cartridges you’ve yet to recycle. A future of sourcing jewel cases for historical accuracy awaits.
But if you’d like to upgrade to a lightly-used solid oak desk, let me know. (My girlfriend promised me 10 per cent of the profits.)
This has to do more with the type of computing device users are shifting towards (and the subsequent consequence of that change).
That said, there will always be users who require a desktop and a functional (read non-Ikea/MDF) desk. Preferably one with lots of glass and metal. ;-)
I wouldn’t write the computer desk’s obit so soon. An organized person needs a place to keep office supplies and paper records, and just a general place to think, research and write. Well, I do, at any rate. It makes the most sense to keep all that near a surface that has space for a computer.
Once you sell that desk in the photo, watch everything on it migrate to the kitchen table. Which is worse?
PS -thanks for the link to my site! :)
Two things:
1) Under the licence this was posted under in Flickr®, you have to give me (the poster…) credit. This is my photographic work, not yours! (as is the desk…)
2) anyone reading the caption of the original Flickr picture will understand that this desk was JUST BUILT! It is replacing a desk from the 1980′s that has grown too small and overcrowded.
Lydia, the desk in question is not for sale…
Hey Paul – I posted the pic, not Michael so I’ll take the heat :-) I gave you attribution on the Alt text for the image and clicking on the image takes people straight to your Flickr page – I figured that was sufficient credit. If you like, I can add your info as a caption too.
I saw your caption but decided the photo was perfect for Michael’s post simply because it was covered in just about every item Michael mentioned.
LMK if you’d like me to remove completely – that’s definitely an option ;-)
Cheers,
Simon.
The desktop computer is not dead. There are a lot of mobile devices out there that can almost do what a desktop can do but they aren’t quite there yet. Desktops still have way storage space than an IPad 2, I.E. 2 terrabytes of hard disk drive storage where as an IPad 2 only has 64 GB of storage space and costs $849 CDN. For that kind of money i can geta good laptop or desktop and get way more functionality out the desktop/laptop. The comercials show “how easy it is to use” when in reality they have all the same connection issues that WiFi mobile devices get, lag time, lost connections, compatibility with other devices because of the company specific software that they use, and on and on it goes. All in all the mobile devices that seem so awesome are really just gimicks for the companies to keep themselves afloat. Is the IPad really that great? You still need wires to connect it to your TV and to your desktop/laptop (especially if you buy the one that doesn’t have WiFi). I can take my memory card from my camera and plug it into my PS3 and use the wireless controller and get the same thing as a wired IPad. I think that these things are just gimicks to keep companies going and selling things that we don’t really need.
Agree. I own a desktop computer, a laptop and an Ipad 2. The desktop by FAR is the most useful. The ipad is a toy that just keeps me connected while on the go. I can’t compose long documents on it, and transferring photos from a camera or the computer is tedious (log into itunes, hook up wires, buy a special connector piece…).
My laptop is useful and can almost replace my desktop, but again, productive usage requires a surface near all my books, office supplies and paper records -you know, a computer desk. :)
I think the computer desk isn’t quite dead, but it’s on life-support, at least in our house. A year ago we got rid of our desktop in favour of a 17″ laptop. So far so good. We still keep it on a desk, but it’s little more than a flat work surface. No drawers or sliding keyboard trays or other typical desk accessories. But now let’s talk about which computing device gets the most use. Hint: it’s not the laptop. Our iPad is by far the most utilized device in the house. Between videos, quick web searches, games and email, it has quickly become the gadget we’d miss most if it was gone. So do we still have a computer desk? Yes. Do we really need one? No.
Simon, there should be a visible attribution…
and desktop computing is certainly NOT dead! I run three (one visible in shot, although on the floor…) with probably more on the way – at least one more DT, with a laptop also in the works. I’ve never found a top-end Laptop that has the raw computing power of a top-end Desktop of the same time period.
Done!
I have been using a Krug corner desk for my desktop computer and just love the convenience of it. I hope the computer desk stays with us for years to come so that I should have the ability to use my 32″ LCD TV as a monitor.
My family must be early adopters of the computer desk is dead ideal. Went out last year bought each of us a laptop (netbook for our youngest). Except to pull old files in the begining the desktop died a quick unceremonious death. We have a cabnet large enough to hold the router, printer and external drives(2 2TB drives) on top and 2 drawers for paper etc.. The desk et all has since been burried in a dark corner of the basement for future explorers to find. At this point don’t have a need for tablets or desktops and our room is far more spacious without that hulking desk.
Just like an article earlier this year about the end of the computer mouse, this one is aimed at the portion of the public that uses computers for minor functions that don’t even scratch the surface of a PC’s potential. If you surf the net and check email then yes a desktop will lose to a laptop, but for everyone who runs servers, edits video and games a desktop will always be desired and the desk is needed.
Also where are you going to put your iphone, ipad, black berry and ipod when you want to charge them up? The floor?
Yes, if all ones does is check email and surf the net, an ipad is fine. However, writing books, Photoshopping art, and doing computer drafting requires a desktop and touch keyboard.
As for the comments on obsolete printer supplies, I can’t be the only one who still needs a printer. Which sits on my computer desk. There’s no stack of installation CDs, but there is a calculator, mug of pens, tape dispenser, refills of office supplies, and other support for life’s mundane routines (like paying bills). Where do you computer desk-less people keep all that?
Looks just like mine. I may not have the shortwave receiver and power supply. I have my ham radio and tuner along with assorted scanners.
Never give up my desktop system. Cheers.
I have an Ipad, but it will never replace my PC which is still way faster and more importantly, a heck of a lot easier to see and type with. You cant compare a good 22 inch monitor with an Ipad screen, no matter how sharp your eyesight is. So yeah,, I will keep my desk a while longer. It has a nice drawer for all the Iphones Ipads and Ipods that have been murder on my poor wee fingers.