Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Post-PC Era @ Your Library?

I have taken a break after the death of my father. My intention was to be back at it sooner then another serious family medical problem hit us. Nevertheless I am determined to press on. I wrote this post a while ago but it is still relevant:

Sarah Perez at TECHCRUNCH has an interesting article about the Post-PC Era (”When Will the Post-PC Era Arrive? It Just Did” http://tinyurl.com/7y8bkr2) . She argues that current trends suggest that the Post-PC Era has indeed arrived as evidence by two important benchmarks. Perez notes that “smartphone shipments outpaced PCs for the first time ever, and Apple became the world’s largest PC maker” (this number includes iPads). It looks like consumers are shifting away from desk top and laptop PCs to smaller more portable computing solutions.


This will most definitely change how libraries provide technology to their patrons. Librarians should be attuned to this as it will be a crucial factor in library planning. So, will libraries replace desktop computers with iPads or other portable devices? (3M has a portable eReader option for libraries that subscribe to its new eBook platform). How will your library adapt?