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The decline in personal computer (PC) sales makes sense once we examine the preferences of different adopter categories. Research on PC adoption has tended to assume the same set of innovation characteristics that influence adoption across all adopter categories, yet in reality, systematic differences exist across adopter categories. Early adopters are the opinion leaders, receiving social esteem by being the first of their group to adopt, and maintaining their position by judiciously evaluating innovations for others. Our research findings illustrate the folly of assuming current non-adopters care about the same things as innovators and early adopters, or assuming that all they care about is PC cost. While cost may be a factor for those still holding out, it is neither the only nor the most important factor. Instead, later adopters want long-lasting products that have yet to appear on the horizon. Until the PC industry convinces this group of potential consumers that their PC will operate like a refrigerator, PC sales are likely to continue in their current stalled state.

The article examined four categories of computers: big tower personal computers (PC); small systems; wide-screen desktop-replacement notebooks; and beige boxes. Large, decked-out computers typically have several inherent advantages over small, space-saving systems or even a basic beige-box PC. The Alienware Aurora Extreme used it high-end components to blaze through the tests. Instead of favoring a PC that offers infinite expansion possibilities, you may prefer a small, unobtrusive system--to save space, perhaps, or for portability. The Falcon Northwest FragBox Pro comes equipped with a powerful processor and graphics card to satiate the needs of performance-hungry gamers. According to Stealth Computer, the Littlepc LPC-401X was designed for users who need top processing power and portability. Manufacturers such as Gateway, MPC, and Sony offer all-in-one computers that are geared at users who need to save space and do not intend to upgrade components. Like other small computers, all-in-one systems allow little room for expansion or upgrades. Large, heavy desktop replacements often come equipped with lots of processing power, capacious storage, and monstrous wide-aspect screens. Beige box is just a convenient term for a system that is in fact no longer beige--many computers of this type are modern-looking machines updated with industrial grays. INSETS: Using the Littlepc to Improve Lives;Long-Distance Health Care.

Reports on the evolution of technology. Introduction of computers; Emergence of microcomputers; Advancement in genomics.

Highlights the Intel-based personal-computer with a 2.53-GHz P4 and a 533-MHz frontside bus. Intel's system faster than a comparable AMD model using an Anthlon XP chip; Expense of the Intel model; Performance boost given by the Intel model.

Reports on the visions of computer companies Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and Apple for advancements in personal computing space. Personalization of workspaces; Powerful mobile devices; Increased security; Review of several processors, including Pentium 4.

The article presents letters to the editor on the topic of the spread of the computer age in the East. Reacting to the article of Andries van Dam published in the August 2003 issue of the journal, a letter says that the reason computing has lost its allure among U.S. college students is not that they believe the computer revolution is over. Rather, they've watched it move to Asia. In a reply Andries van Dam says that it is doubtful that students have considered or indeed are very aware of the movement of the U.S. information technology (IT) work to Asia. Most professionals aren't even aware of how much software work has shifted to Asia and how countries like China and India, not to mention Singapore, are investing in building up their "machinery."

This article examines whether the client hardware, which is moving beyond vertical markets, as of 2005, will go mainstream. In 2004 the CIO of Sparkasse Haslach-Zell, a savings bank in Germany, replaced Windows NT desktops with Sun Ray thin clients. Using smartcards, the bank's consultants can log on to any workstation and access Microsoft Office and line-of-business applications. Since they first began to replace dumb terminals in the late '90s, thin clients have always been niche machines in industries like healthcare, banking, education, and city government. Some are ultrathin with no operating system at all. For Keith Courier, moving to thin clients is the law. His company, Mosaic, a nonprofit that manages care for the functionally disabled and housing for independent elders, is switching from Microsoft Windows personal computers to thin clients largely to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act, which requires healthcare firms to prevent unauthorized access to electronic medical records. Going thin greatly simplifies IT administration for not-for-profit organizations like Mosaic, where Federal funding cuts have sliced budgets razor thin. But enterprises cannot readily switch to thin clients. One obvious reason is that network-based computers can't match personal computers for performance. Moreover, thin clients may be cheaper than PCs, but they aren't necessarily cheap. The money IT departments save on desktops often translates into higher server costs, as well as higher salaries for network-savvy support staff. Gartner Group's Martin Reynolds sees thin clients as a natural choice for niche markets and companies moving operations offshore, where data security can be an especially thorny issue, but he doesn't see them replacing mainstream business desktop computers. Wyse CEO John Kish predicts thin clients will continue to enjoy strong growth in enterprises, but believes the real revolution will take place in the consumer market. INSET: The Skinny on Mobility.

The article offers information on the Computex Exhibit held at the Nangang Exhibit Hall in Taipei City, Taiwan. The author calls the event as "The Last Computex" based on the history of the exhibit. It adds that the allocation of floor space of the personal computer (PC) market at Computex may reach 25 % of the total market as compared to the gaming industry.

The article, part of a special section on technology in India and China, reports on the personal computer business in China, as old-school and up close retailing is prominent, a change from the personalized and made-to-order personal computer business in the U.S. and elsewhere. Particular focus is given to the company Lenovo, which started out as a computer distributor and has resellers in over one thousand Chinese cities.

Evaluates 15 desktop personal computers. MicroFlex 3200 Plus from Micro Express; Dimension 4700 from Dell; GX5000Z from Compaq; Bot from Alienware.

The article highlights the top 15 desktop personal computers (PC) as of August 2004. Shuttle's XPC G4 8250, which debuts in seventh place on the list is supremely compact with its mirrored front and polished black side panel, this elegant model will look good in any environment. Somewhat larger is Harmony 1000 from ABS, it is eighth on the list, this is a sleek, silver minitower that fits nicely in both home and business decors. The Shuttle packs a high-end Athlon processor and Redundant Array of Independent Disks hard drives and has the horsepower for most demanding applications. At one-third the cost of the Alienware box, Harmony of ABS is a better value for PC buyers with modest budgets. The other new systems on this month's power list--from Micro Express, Xi Computer and ZT Group are the basic chunky black towers. They are reasonably priced for their class, each of the systems is equipped with a top-end AMD Athlon processor and plenty of storage capacity. IBuyPower's Back To School system is the fastest PC in the value lineup, it might have qualified as a power system if not for its 19-inch cathode ray tube and relatively small 80 gigabyte hard drive. However, the science fiction look of the system is over-the-top.

If Google were to close down its popular web-search service tomorrow, it would be much missed. Yet many IT firms would not be too unhappy if Google were to disappear. They certainly dislike the company's message to the world: you do not need the latest and greatest in technology to offer outstanding services. In the words of Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame, now chief executive of Opsware, a software start-up: "Except applications and services, everything and anything in computing will soon become a commodity." Exactly what is meant by "commoditisation", though, depends on whom you talk to. It is most commonly applied to the PC industry. Although desktops and laptops are not a truly interchangeable commodity such as crude oil, the logo on a machine has not really mattered for years. As the term implies, "commoditisation" is not a state, but a dynamic. As the technology becomes more widespread, better understood and standardised, its value falls. Eventually it joins the sector's "sediment", the realm of bottom feeders with hyper-efficient metabolisms that compete mainly on cost. The IT industry also differs from other technology sectors in that its wares become less valuable as they get better, and go from "undershoot" to "overshoot," to use the terms coined by Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School. But although expensive Unix systems, the strength of Sun Microsystems, are--and will probably remain for some time--a must for "mission-critical" applications, servers are quickly commoditising. Google goes even further. A visit to one of the company's data centres in Silicon Valley is a trip back to the future. In the same way that members of the Valley's legendary Homebrew Computer Club put together the first PCs using off-the-shelf parts in the early 1970s, Google has built a huge computer system out of electronic commodity parts.

Focuses on the fall in prices of personal computers (PC) as of July 1, 2001, and suggests that price cuts on computers are good for consumers. Prices on high-end systems which have plummeted; Reasons for prices, including well-publicized downturn in PC sales coupled with a slowing United States economy; Price cuts on PC components; Cost of Dell's entry-level desktop Dimension L; Suggestion that Dell was seeking to grab market share at the expense of competitors. INSET: Flat-Panel Prices Falling--for Now.

Discusses all-in-one computers that include an entire system in one box. Their advantages over desktop and tower models; The lackluster performance of most all-in-one systems; The growing number of personal computer makers that are getting behind the all-in-one craze.

The article discusses reports from market research, analysis and advisory firm International Data Corporation (IDC) and information technology (IT) research firm Gartner, that found the personal computer (PC) market struggling as more consumers enjoy the decline in prices in the tablet market. According to Gartner, the 82.6 million units in worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2013, reveals a 6.9 percent decline.

The article presents information on a market research conducted by NPD Group. According to findings of the research, the gap in average selling prices between Macintosh and personal computers (PCs) has widened over the last couple of years. The study showed that in June 2008 Macintosh desktops cost an average of $1,543, up from $1,432 two years ago. The study also found that on the laptop front, the difference is smaller. It is reported to be $1,515 for Macintosh which is $60 less than in June 2006 versus $700 for PCs, which is down from $877.

The article reports on the class-action lawsuit filed by two Mac users against Apple. The two Mac users contends that Apple misrepresents the amount of colors its laptops can display. The lawsuit alleges that MacBooks and MacBook Pros are capable of displaying only the illusion of millions of colors through a technique called dithering, in which colored pixels from within the available palette are blended together to approximate other colors. The merits of the case will be decided in due time. The dispute has raised some interesting questions about how hardware makers market their displays.

The article looks at developments in the personal computer market in Chinese mainland. In 2005, about 20 million personal computers were sold on the Chinese market, an increased of 18.8 percent in 2004. Small and medium-businesses contributed to the growth in desktop sales. Meanwhile, individual purchases contributed to the growth in laptop sales in 2004.

The article evaluates the T6532 Media Center PC from eMachines.

The article introduces a new line of low-power microprocessors for desktop personal computers, including 35-watt chips such as a dual-core Athlon 64 X2 3800 processor, developed by Advanced Micro Devices as part of a broader initiative to improve computer architecture. The low power chips are designed to assist manufacturers in creating a smaller, thinner desktop PCs for the corporate market and consumers. It will be based on AMD's latest chip circuitry. Initially, AMD's lower-power line will include 10 processors that consume either 35 watts or 65 watts across its Sempron, Athlon 64, and dual core Athlon 64 X2 lines.

Evaluates the MiniPC desktop personal computer from AOpen. Key features; Pros and cons; Price.

The article focuses on the future prospects of thin-client technology. The thin-client market has had its fair share of missed promises. About seven years ago, when inexpensive PCs cost more than $1,000, thin-client vendors enticed businesses with $500 price tags. But PC prices continued to drop; some now sell for as low as $300. The lowest-priced thin clients hover around $200, and some thin clients still cost more than $500. The thin-client story line focuses on low operating costs and security. With no moving parts or hard drives, they have lower support and software costs.

This section presents a list of the top 15 desktop personal computers for the month of September 2005, along with a summary of their features and specifications, performance and bottom line.

This article presents a chart of top 15 desktop personal computers in the computer industry which include Alienware Aurora 64 FX-55, ABS Ultimate M6-64 and Dell Dimension 8400 as of March 2005.

The article looks at new computer and related technology products previewed at PC World in the past. Back in January 2004, we previewed Iomega's DCT, which crammed 1.5-gigabyte of storage into $10 microdiscs for use in portable products such as MP3 players. Then Iomega decided not to bring DCT to market. Meanwhile, DataPlay, a DCT-like disc, is back for another try. But with memory cards such as SD still growing in capacity and shrinking in price, I suspect that the future of small storage will be solid state. Lilliputian Windows XP machines: Speaking of small, ultraportable personal computers have been stuck in vaporware mode, until now. Scansoft's Dragon NaturallySpeaking software remains a lifesaver for folks who cannot or should not use a keyboard. However, as with handwriting recognition, it seems that voice input will not matter for most of us until it gets close to perfect. After years of overpromising and underdelivering, this personal networking technology is finally the real deal. In the personal computer domain, its biggest accomplishment has been to make wireless keyboards and mice pricier and flakier. And now Ultra Wideband, a standard for wire-free communications, is gunning to kill off Bluetooth on the desktop.

Reports on the decline of shipment of computers and related products in the U.S. in July 2004.

Reports that computer upgrades will be a high priority for businesses for the remainder of 2004 in the U.S.

Introduces the articles related to microcomputers which appeared in the InFocus section in the March 8, 2004 issue of "Electronic Engineering Times". Time-consuming issue of writing drivers for single-board computers; Thermal failures in embedded computers; Factors that must be considered by original equipment manufacturers when implementing Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture.

Evaluates the 610XL Media Center PC from Gateway. Features; Flaws; Price.

Evaluates the Apple G5 personal computer. Features; Capabilities; Advantages.

Evaluates the LPC-401P desktop computer system from Stealth Computer. Advantages of the computer; Price; Features.

Reports on the trends in the marketing of personal computers (PC) as of November 2003. Primary factor that affects the buying decision of consumers; Popularity of specialty PC that is unique and fast; Benefits from computers being offered by specialty PC vendors.

The article focuses on the competition that will led by 64-bit CPUs. With the arrival of Apple Computer Inc.'s desktop machines and their 64-bit CPUs, the race to the next generation of mass-market processing power suddenly has a severe competition. Intel Corp.'s Itanium, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Opteron and Athlon 64, and now the IBM PowerPC 970 (or G5) processor in forth-coming Apple systems offer distinctly different options to users of memory-intensive applications. All three 64-bit architectures must compete against the frugal enterprise buyer's base case of continuing to buy commodity-priced workstations and servers using variants of Intel's 32-bit Pentium 4. Intel celebrated the graduation season by shipping a 3.2GHz P4 that should enjoy a short but hot summer as leader of the pack. INSETS: 64-bit desktop: Why and why not;Apple's 64-bit systems.

Presents information on purchasing a used personal computer (PC). Assessment of what the buyer wants from the prospective PC; Consideration of documentation and program/system disks; Implementation of a TuffTest or another comprehensive diagnostic program.

Evaluates the Athlon XP 3200+ personal computer. Comparison with competitors; Features.

Discusses how laptop and personal computers will change by the year 2004. Description of features most computers will have; Details of changes, such as a smaller monitor and increased storage space on hard drives; Cost.

Comments on the dominance of Microsoft Corp. o the computer industry in the United States. Introduction of the Pocket PC 2002; Advantage of the Pocket PC over the typical desk top personal computers; Ability of the Pocket PC to store enough data and do local processing.

Discusses the cost of computer repairs. Typical diagnostic fees charged by retail outlets such as CompUSA and Circuit City; Difficulties experienced by computer owners; Importance of researching stores' reputations.

Comments on developments at the 2000 Comdex Computer Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Webcast interview with Bill Gates; Potential of Microsoft Corp.'s tablet personal computer; Thrill of seeing and touching the products.

Evaluates the Dell Dimension XPS B1000r Special Edition personal computer. Features and configuration; Price; Pros and cons; Availability.

Argues that PCs will not go away despite the fact that they are not good at being portable and handling voice communications. Remarks on Intel's 810, 810e, and 820 integrated chip sets.

Presents information on Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co.'s e-Vectra, the first product in personal computer line of stripped-down computers intended for corporate networks. Two configurations of e-Vectra; Features of e-Vectra; Other company that offers similar product.

Presents an ironic view of various technologies that were predicted to make the personal computer (PC) obsolete. Mainframe, minicomputers and computer terminals; The Newton, pen computer and personal digital assistants (PDA); The growth and impact of network computers (NC); Figures on the growing numbers of the sales of PC; PC growth and the Intenet.

Presents the author's comments on how the Macintosh computers, released in 1998, will force the personal computer (PC) industry to focus on designing more appealing PCs. The ease of the iMac computer in terms of accessibility to components; Viewpoint that PCs must get simpler and easier to use.