We have gone from desktop to laptop to tablet, but what is next? Surely we can’t be at a standstill for new computer technology. Please recognize that when I say standstill, I’m not referring to all of the insides and the specifications. I’m mostly talking about the general use and function rather than the hard drive capacity or the number of cores it has.
What can we expect to see in 2012? I personally do not think that we are going to see any thrilling changes that will surprise us or wow us; however, I would be happy to be proven wrong! To be honest, I have a feeling that more focus is going to be put on tablets and smartphones than laptops.
I think that we can expect the obvious. Laptops are going to get thinner, lighter, faster, and have longer battery lives. The newest laptops are being called “Ultrabooks.” This word was made up by Intel, but it represents a category of ultraportable laptops. Laptops that qualify as being Ultrabook models must be less than 0.83 inches thick, resume from the hibernate mode to keyboard input in less than 7 seconds, have at least 5 hours of battery life, and more.
In short, not much is changing. While these new Ultrabooks will provide an ultraportable laptop, are they going to be powerful, or can you get just as much out of them as you can an iPad? One thing is for sure, it looks like the world of Netbooks is starting to fade away. I am glad that I never fell for that craze. I always like the ability to have a mini laptop; however, when something just as thin and light as a Netbook that has a lot more to offer than a Netbook comes along, I think I would rather go for a 13+ inch screen with a full sized keyboard.
I would like to see laptops advance, but for now, I have a feeling that smartphones and tablets are going to be top priority.
