Pragmatic Prose

My web browser works the same as it did on Vista and XP.  Yes, besides the occasional game, I don't stray outside the browser too much.

I listen to music on Pandora.  I email through gmail.  I type up (the rare) document in google documents.

I watch an occasional DVD but more often then not, when I do watch video, it's youtube or Hulu or even Netflix on demand service.

I don't write much code at home anymore.  I think I'm going through a dry spell.  

I read books on my kindle instead.  I love my Kindle.  I download books for it through my web browser.  Hmmm.

Any thought I had of building a desktop software product (other than a gamer) have just disappeared.

The corporate world will lag behind.  That world is tied to the desktop, however every year more and more enterprise software is delivered via the browser to users.  Even the venerable MS Office now has a web version.

Hmmm, what do I use my PC for besides games?  Video, my PC is my main movie watching location.  I watch less than one per week.

The most important task I can think of is movie and video storage.  Pictures and videos of my son.  Even these are backed up to Amazon right now.

Just checked smugmug.com.  Prices are:  Standard: $39.95/year  •  Power: $59.95/year  •  Pro: $149.95/year  Might be worth looking into.

The only desktop software I need at work are visual studio and sql server management studio.  And I use those to ummm..yeah develop web sites and other server based software.

The PC didn't die, it just got really small and went everywhere.  It's in your phone, TV, DVR, cable box, game console, etc.  

Upon reflection, it seems the only reason I really need a PC is to play the type of games I like.  I like to play Fallout 3 and Bioshock and King's Bounty.  These games are fun and they are just plain better on the PC.

So, just like 15 years ago, I continue to use the PC because it's my next best source of entertainment besides books.  Movies are mostly for 14 year olds.  Games surprisingly appeal to a broader audience.  Books even more so.  

So my dual core 2.9 Ghz processor and my 8 GB of ram don't do much besides run a web browser (actually about 20 instances of a web browser) with the occasional gaming workout.

Yeah, not much has changed in 15 years actually.