I understand it fits Wired‘s worldview, but that doesn’t make it true. I am talking about its latest entry in the “PC is dead” sweepstakes, in which the imminent death of something — what, exactly? — is repeatedly predicted. For decades.

“No, really, the PC is dying and it’s not coming back” is the latest of these. Posted last Friday, Davey Alba’s piece at least it gives a nod to its dire prediction having been wrong so many times so far. And while I am not predicting a return to robust sales, the death of the PC is still not close at hand.

First, what PC are we talking about? Is it the absolutely essential laptop I’m using the write this post and every post I expect to write for the next many years? The Windows-based Microsoft Surface tablet I’d like to replace the notebook with? Or the computer that runs essential-for-work software that will never become a smartphone app?

Is that the dead PC?

Or are we talking about my Macintosh desktop? And Mac laptop. Despite Microsoft’s improvements, MacOS is still the best operating system, though Windows 7 and a properly modified copy of 8 are now quite acceptable alternatives. Still, despite the higher cost, I’m looking forward to my next Mac. And, yes, Macs count as PCs.

Are they dead, t00?

Maybe Wired is talking about Intel-based servers? Perhaps they aren’t PCs, but they do help keep processor innovation alive at Intel, assuring my Windows and MacOS machines will continue to evolve forward.

Yes, there are people and tasks that used to require a PC but no longer do. I am, for example, more likely to answer email and participate in social networks from my iPhone than the laptop. But, even then, the platform switch isn’t 100 percent and I still at least occasionally must use features available only from the laptop or desktop.

The death of the mainframe has likewise been predicted many times and has largely come to pass, except that IBM continues to sell them. Not that mainframes are what they used to be, in fact, they have been replaced by large numbers of PC-like machines working together.

For the foreseeable future, there will be folks who want a large screen, full-sized keyboard and, yes, Windows or MacOS functionality that only a “PC” can really deliver. People won’t be so much forced to use them, as when computing and PC were almost synonymous. They will use them because the larger computer meets their need.

The PCs share of total computing will continue to decrease because so much more computing is coming online globally, where a smartphone may be all the computer a person really needs. I think that’s great and I am happy they have the tool.

So, no, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the “death of the PC” except to say it will be so gradual — because people find replacements — that most of us won’t notice. And when something better than this laptop shows up, I’ll use it. But only with a big screen and a full-sized keyboard. Which may, in the future, come to define what it means to be a PC.

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