Personal Computers

LPH · #1 (**permalink**) 06-17-2004, 01:06 PM

It's time for the PC to take a big leap forward. Since the early 1980s, it has evolved from a glorified typewriter to a do-everything digital hub with very few changes to its outward appearance. Innovative twists have come and gone, like Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL ) all-in-one iMac and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT ) WebTV console for the living room. But high price tags and proprietary software have kept them out of the mainstream, especially since $500 got you a garden variety desktop from Dell Inc. (DELL ) or Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ ).

Now, with our rapidly expanding digital lives, we're ready for more choices: machines designed for particular jobs, particular rooms of the house, or particular types of people -- say, music lovers that want hi-fi sound, or parents who want something nearly unbreakable for their pre-teens. Now that millions of people are using multiple PCs, there's no need for them all to look and work the same. "The idea of a one-size-fits-all PC doesn't work," says Mike Nuttall, co-founder of IDEO Inc., a Palo Alto (Calif.)-based design firm that designed the first laptop computer for GRiD Systems in 1982.

People are willing to pay for cool hardware, too. Apple has sold 3 million iPods at prices similar to that basic Dell or HP box. Boutique PC makers, including Alienware and VoodooPC, are ringing up sales of $3,000 machines with attention-getting transparent covers and glow-in-the-dark components. It helps that overall PC demand is bouncing back. Worldwide sales increased 17% in the first quarter, and research firm Gartner Inc. predicts they'll hit a record 186.4 million in 2004, up 13.6% from 2003. With that kind of volume, there's room enough for innovators to carve out sizable new niches.

In that spirit, here are five ideas for spicing up the plain-vanilla PC:

Think Smaller
Show It Bigger
Entertain Us
Make It Fit In
Aesthetics Matter

Personal Computers

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