The Future of PCs and Implications on Society

Hermann Maurer (Graz University of Technology, Austria)

Ron Oliver (Edith Cowan University, Australia)

Abstract: In this paper we argue that in about ten years time PCs as we now know them, will no longer exist. Their functionality will be totally integrated into mobile telephony devices, or putting it differently, in ten years time mobile phones will incorporate all functions one would expect from a powerful PC. These new devices, let us call them eAssistants, will be with us all the time and will change our lives enormously. In this paper we take a first look at both the technological and applied aspects of this prediction.

Keywords: display technology, future computers, societal implications, wearable PC

Categories: H.4, J.0, K.4, K.8