On
the significance of the PC
It is clear that the PC is something that currently dominates the IT
industry, but the way the industry is structured, the way computing is done–it
is no longer going to be the dominant factor. The PC will be just one of the
information appliances. For example, if you are at home, you use it for mail,
which is actually a service you get from an ISP, or for browsing. So, you have a
device that has a heavy-duty browser, which more or less beats the requirement
of 80% of all companies, all personal businesses or homes. I think the emergence
of the new generation of wireless-enabled devices will be more exciting.
On PC vendors’ shift to services
Services are a different ball game altogether. They are not related to
hardware. I think the days when people developed services and applications based
on the PC industry are gone. What is more important now is how to make
applications network-driven, how to migrate your data to the network, how to
provide services instead of application, how to e-enable your company, how to
dot-com a company and how to e-integrate the supply chain issues. The services
are moving there and hence the value addition in that area of the business
segment. DQ