The global personal computer industry marches into its fourth phase -- the extended PC era -- following two decades of evolution from mass production into multimedia and the Internet age, said Intel Corp President and CEO Craig Barrett yesterday.
"The extended PC is really an architect to handle a variety of information-type audiences. It is what people use to access the Internet for creative pursuits, productive work, communication and entertainment," Barrett said.
The head of the world's number one chipmaker described the evolution of the personal computer as having influenced into "all aspects of our lives."
"So, is the PC dead? I find this [question] very interesting while we are here celebrating the 20th anniversary of PC development in Taiwan," Barrett told a gathering of government officials, IT industry leaders and the media yesterday. "I think the PC will continue ... to roll in expanded capability and continue to offer all of us more," Barrett said.
Barrett was joined yesterday by such local IT heavyweights as Matthew Miao (
Indeed Barrett said, he expects trillions of dollars in business opportunities -- primarily in the form of business-to-business electronic commerce -- to take shape on the Internet within the next five years, as the "PC will become the center of our digital world," he said.
"Today, 99.9 percent of those devices are personal computers," Barrett said, "though it may not be such a high percentage in the future, the personal computer will still be the primary access device to the Internet."
Echoing Barrett's comments, Asustek's Shih said he expects Taiwan continue to contribute to the world's PC sector for another 20 years by embracing the Internet economy.
He added that innovation -- incorporating R&D in computer, communications and consumer electronics products -- will help strengthen Taiwan's PC industry.
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