Hi there.
Oh dear -- why just people can't get real -- you can stay and use W7 until 2020 or even 3030 A.D if you want (or even XP !!) -- NO ONE is forcing you to change - and in any case a period of over 6 years is almost a GEOLOGICAL AGE in computing terms --who knows what we might be using by then...
I tend to hang on to computers for a long time. My first computer was a Commodore C64c; I still have it. My first XP machine lasted seven years before I retired it because I had outgrown it. The second one lasted five years even though it was a POS. After trying out Win 8, I decided to keep using Win 7 as long as I can (or sometime in 2019, whichever comes first). I bought three retail and one OEM license for Win 7 while I could (one retail and the one OEM are in use) so no worries there. If I don't like what's available then and can still get parts, I just might keep a Win 7 machine going isolated from the "interwebz", etc. but then, who knows what may happen by then? I have many options available now and there will be others by then.
...But ASK YOURSELVES unless you are a Gamer or a hard core "Hobbyist" who likes building things what do you actually USE a computer for these days -- for example I'll bet most of your music is stored on things like Tablets, smart phones, ipods or even stand alone NAS servers, Movies etc are accessed a lot via services on SMART TV's, and a hige percentage of email is done on devices OTHER than computers. Even when you need to print a Network / Wi-Fi enabled printer can print directly from a smart phone / tablet etc or even a Smart TV...
Oh yeah, I would love to see how anyone can store 57 GB of music and 35 GB of books (only a little over half of what I will have since I'm only a little over halfway finished scanning my books) on a tablet or smart phone. I'm not knocking tablets or smart phones—they do have their uses—but I simply do not need either (I have an el cheapo dumb phone for emergencies) and I especially do not need a monthly data plan bill (I'm retired on a fixed income). Smart TVs aren't all that smart (they are vulnerable to attacks when connected to the web). I don't have room for a standalone NAS; I need to keep as much as possible in one box.
Keep in mind, not everyone has access to reliable, unlimited broadband internet, especially affordable.
...Things CHANGE - the first couple of iterations are usually a bit wonky -- but after that they proceed just fine...
True that except not all change is good.
...The first rifles were HOPELESS compared to a skilled crossbow shooter - but would a modern soldier want to be equipped with cross bows rather than decent rifles...
Ok, I'm just being anal here but the English longbow was superior to even crossbows. Even modern crossbows can't compete with good longbows. The difference is it takes a lot of training, natural aptitude, and physical strength to excel with a longbow whereas any idiot could learn to shoot a crossbow. At the time, crossbows weren't much better than the first firearms other than, mayhap, aim.
...There's NOTHING WRONG in adding touch etc for relevant functions -- a lot of this stuff cannot be done easily in the older OS'es...
Touch is ideal for tablets and phone for which keyboards are impractical but require a clunky interface (tiles, etc.) to allow comparatively fat fingers to be able to select only one thing. However, that does use more screen real estate on machines that can't really spare it, making them unsuitable for more complex tasks. Viewing a large spread sheet or editing page layout on large documents becomes unwieldy or impossible on anything other than a large screen. And touch on a large screen just takes too much effort. It makes far more sense to move a mouse a couple inches or less to go from one side of a 22" or bigger screen that to move one's finger that far when said finger is at the end of an outstretched arm (my shoulders simply can't handle that). I need multiple monitors for much of what I do and will be getting them once I get some other projects out of the way (such as making a place for my ADF scanner so I can have room on my desk for the monitors); the last thing I need is less screen real estate! I've frequently had my single monitor partitioned into six windows with a couple more windows intermittently opened on top of the six. Having to frequently scroll through each little window was a PITA. Those tasks would be pretty much possible impossible on a tablet or smartphone (in other words, the nice men in white would take me for a ride to the funny farm before I was finished).
...Until recently one of the things I STILL used a computer a lot for was for purchasing travel tickets -- but these days instead of all the hassle of "print at Home" and bits of paper using a smart phone with "M-Tickets" delivered straight to your mobile with the scanner code -- I use the phone -- Banking apps etc also are easy and I don't need 100's of bits of paper either now as "receipts" as the whole kybosh is on the mobile and submitted at the end of the month to payroll for them to process expenses. -- So simple and easy. All my online ordering is also done via smart phone too - rarely sit at the computer for this type of stuff any more...
True, all that can be done from a smart phone or tablet but I feel a desktop computer or laptop to be far easier and faster to use, especially online shopping when I don't know what I'm looking for or I'm comparison shopping. Again, the limited screen real estate and the clunky interface are what would hold me up. And I don't need to do any of that with any onthespotget'erdonerightthen urgency so I can keep until I do get to a laptop or desktop.
I have used a camera for a portable scanner but prefer one of my two scanners at home (usually, the ADF but I still use a flatbed often enough to justify keeping it too.) Even those don't get much of a workout since most of my receipts and statements are obtained online (either already digitized or "printed" to a PDF). Tracking down those receipts is far easier on a desktop, again mostly due to the increased screen real estate.
...(Backup of data on a phone is important too just like data on a computer - I back up data regularly to a network drive --easily done with the zillions of FTP type applications available on mobile phones --if you use your mobile a lot BACKUP THE DATA in case the phone gets broken, stolen, or even upgraded)...
God bless you for that! That is true for any data stored anywhere. I'm constantly amazed by the number of people on computer forums that post that they don't need backups, even less for multiple backups, despite all the posts on the same forums from poor shmoes crying that their HDD, smart phone, tablet, whatever, died with all their data on it and are wanting to know how to get it back. Sad to say, the chances of getting it back at that point is somewhere between fat and slim and usually will cost a lot of money IF it can be done.
...Actually that's one thing the COMPUTER gets used for MORE these days -- as ARCHIVAL and BACKUP storage facility and sometimes as a media server so I'm not getting rid of the machine just yet.!!...
I agree! There is no way a tablet or smart phone can handle that nor will they in my lifetime (which is not to say they never will).
...Computers will play a different role in future -- Home use WILL diminish for typical consumers and that's A FACT. We have to accept that an era (enjoyable in its way) has passed and won't return.
Even in the work place they will be used differently...
True, desktop use will (and has) decline for most home consumers because they never fully utilized the power of their desktops. That's not true for all home consumers, however, and many are using their smaller, more portable devices to supplement their desktops.
Desktops will still play a major role in business for reasons I've already covered but tablets and smartphones will be (and are) used as extensions of those desktops and laptops(and LAN connected mainframes). Data creation will typically be done on the desktops and laptops but data dissemination will be (and are) done on laptops or tablets instead of killing trees and burning toner for printouts. Many retailers are offering to email receipts instead of printing them (I decline because I don't trust them to not use the addy for spam, the same reason I never do surveys).
One reason the PC market seems to be dying is the market is saturated and there aren't as many first time purchasers. People are keeping their machines longer for various reasons, such as the bad economy (the recession is far from over, no matter what crap...er...skewed data governments feed us, trying to say otherwise; I have more out of work friends now than when the recession first hit), not liking what's available now, etc. Once an equilibrium is reached, desktop sales will level out and, eventually, rise again, although never again to the same level as before but, still, a significant market, one no vendor can afford to ignore for long (although, sadly, M$ has done just that many times).
