Modern technology continues to advance every day giving us more powerful and more affordable PCs. The question to consider here, though, is whether or not these PCs advance because of consumer demand or because the manufacturers are generating their own demand.
Think of it like a "chicken or the egg" question. It may seem like a useless philosophical point, but there is valid material here to explore. Why? Because if we, as consumer, are dictating the way the PCs develop, we'll always get the products we actually need. If, however, the manufacturers are creating products first and expecting the demand to follow, who knows where we'll end up?
It seems like a strange question at first. After all, doesn't any market simply follow the demands of the consumers? The short answer is no. Sometimes, in order to generate more revenue and to expand into different areas, manufacturers might develop a new product and then try to generate a demand around it.
Consider, if you will, laptop PCs. As computers became more and more necessary in our daily lives, people wanted to have access to their machines wherever they went. One could argue that this was a matter of the market following the demand. Most manufacturers ran to fill that demand.
Compared to that, netbooks have started to change things in the industry. Some people have argued that these PCs were designed to fill the demand for cheap computers. But, at the same time, netbooks are supposed to fill the demand for an even more portable computer than a laptop.
But wait. Weren't laptop PCs pretty portable to begin with? Wasn't it pretty easy to pack around a full featured laptop wherever you went? Was there really a demand for smaller computers with inconvenient keyboards and nowhere near the processing power of their larger counterparts? Was there really a demand that they fulfilled, or did the manufacturers manufacture that demand?
Is this an important question to ask? Maybe, maybe not. But in recent years netbooks have grown to secure a large chunk of the PC marketplace. PC makers have been able to reach out to new areas of the marketplace and generate some revenue they may not have had. Did we demand it, or did they?
There are, of course, many developments in PCs that are a direct result of consumer demand, and these would be the hardcore gamers. They always seem to need a more powerful machine with better graphics, and many manufacturers rush to fill that need, too. Still, the question lingers: are we influencing PCs, or are they in control of us? - 31403
Think of it like a "chicken or the egg" question. It may seem like a useless philosophical point, but there is valid material here to explore. Why? Because if we, as consumer, are dictating the way the PCs develop, we'll always get the products we actually need. If, however, the manufacturers are creating products first and expecting the demand to follow, who knows where we'll end up?
It seems like a strange question at first. After all, doesn't any market simply follow the demands of the consumers? The short answer is no. Sometimes, in order to generate more revenue and to expand into different areas, manufacturers might develop a new product and then try to generate a demand around it.
Consider, if you will, laptop PCs. As computers became more and more necessary in our daily lives, people wanted to have access to their machines wherever they went. One could argue that this was a matter of the market following the demand. Most manufacturers ran to fill that demand.
Compared to that, netbooks have started to change things in the industry. Some people have argued that these PCs were designed to fill the demand for cheap computers. But, at the same time, netbooks are supposed to fill the demand for an even more portable computer than a laptop.
But wait. Weren't laptop PCs pretty portable to begin with? Wasn't it pretty easy to pack around a full featured laptop wherever you went? Was there really a demand for smaller computers with inconvenient keyboards and nowhere near the processing power of their larger counterparts? Was there really a demand that they fulfilled, or did the manufacturers manufacture that demand?
Is this an important question to ask? Maybe, maybe not. But in recent years netbooks have grown to secure a large chunk of the PC marketplace. PC makers have been able to reach out to new areas of the marketplace and generate some revenue they may not have had. Did we demand it, or did they?
There are, of course, many developments in PCs that are a direct result of consumer demand, and these would be the hardcore gamers. They always seem to need a more powerful machine with better graphics, and many manufacturers rush to fill that need, too. Still, the question lingers: are we influencing PCs, or are they in control of us? - 31403
