Of course, there are things in the hardware industry that have changed significantly, especially in terms of performance. However, the basis, structure and mode of operation of computers have changed almost nothing in more than two decades…
The shape and structure of computers do not change
Processor mounted on the motherboard, itself cooled by a heat sink. RAM memory “punched” on the motherboard, expansion slots for the graphics card and other peripherals, connection ports, power supply, fans… all in one box. This structure or way of assembling a PC has hardly changed in recent years, and there is no indication that it will do so in the short or medium term.
If we look back a bit, there have been some interesting changes in the way we know desktop computers. For example, the trend now is for storage drives to be connected directly to the motherboard (M.2 format) instead of having a rack for hard drives that had to be connected at once with a power cable and a data cable (SATA), just because the tendency to install the power supply on top has changed (now it is installed below to promote better cooling and to lower the center of gravity of the assembly).
But other than that, what else has changed on the PC? In fact, it’s not like it changes the way you build a PC much, because it really remains the same: a case with its cooling system, its motherboard, its power supply, its components… all interconnected.
However, we can’t say that’s a bad thing either, mainly because it’s been standardized to the point that all computers are modular, allowing the user to choose and change any of their components, like CPU, heatsink, RAM, whenever they want. , food, etc. (as long as they’re compatible, you know).
Therefore, we consider it not bad news, and in fact the fact that, for example, the storage now connects directly to the board is a very good advantage that does not deprive us of this modularity or freedom when of connection, disconnection and change. peripherals inside our computers.
Substantial changes would deprive us of versatility
Of course, we all expect this to change sooner or later, and in fact it is already happening in other market segments. Logically, there are laptops in which everything is integrated (although it is true that, fundamentally, they continue to be a motherboard with its processor, memory, cooling system, etc. even if everything is soldered and integrated in a way), as well as many OEM PCs or Mini PCs that also incorporate all or most of the hardware.
But of course, if they did the same thing on desktop computers, we would have the same problems as on a laptop or mini PC that has everything integrated: we would lose a lot of versatility. Despite the fact that in many of these devices we can change some things such as storage or RAM, there are other components that we cannot touch such as the processor, the cooling system or the case itself, which makes us lose that modularity that we have in today’s desktop computers.
So, and answering the title question: is this good or bad news? Does IT need to radically change? Personally, we think this is good news precisely because of the standardization that exists in the market, which gives users great freedom of choice. In this way we can always, for example, buy a cheap heatsink and then buy a better one, we can add RAM or buy a faster kit, or we can add SSDs or install models of greater capacity when we want it.
And you what do you think ?
