[Renegade 13]

Phoenix-D said:
I'm trying to figure out why someone would willingly use a cell phone as their primary internet device.

I Heartily agree!

dogscoff said:
The landline will be dead by 2020.

This may (note: *may*) be true in the biggest of big cities, but other than that...I disagree. Eventually it'll be gone, but not that soon.

...start distributing them individually, on-demand, instead. I guess I'm saying the web will, eventually, eat TV.

Unlikely to occur; if it was all on-demand, etc., it would be far too easy to avoid commercials...and as you no doubt know, they can't allow that to happen. Quite possibly it'll be on-demand, but AFTER it has already been broadcast in a (relatively) conventional fashion.

...although the method of distribution will probably move mostly- if not completely- from raw radio signals to internet.

Again, I'll disagree. There are lots and lots of places in this world that do not have wireless internet access...even in 1st world countries. For that reason, radio will stay in it's current form, or perhaps migrate fully to the satellite radio form, but I doubt it'll be all or nearly all broadcast via the internet.

But yeah, the PC as we know it, a big beige box that sits under your desk, will diminish massively. Enthusiasts and prefessionals will still want them, but most average people will just buy a series of sleek-looking, easy-to-use PC-based appliances that look and feel more like VCRs or stereos or consoles than computers, but have all the power of a PC behind them.

I'll (predictably ) also disagree here. I think that the wholescale migration from something like your 'conventional' computer to mobile devices simply won't happen very quickly, if at all. No current or planned mobile device will ever be as comfortable to use; for example, screen size. Give me my 20" screen! Most people, I think, would rather have a larger, relatively immobile, and FAR more powerful computer for things like gaming, long-term internet browsing, work, etc.

As you can see, I personally disagree with the 'death' of the PC; it will have it's place for a long time yet I think. Then again, who really knows what the future will hold!