When people ask me about the next generation of Intel computer chips coming out and what I think about them, I usually answer by saying they are not much of an advancement and the big difference is they will have graphic processors built into them. While this will make graphics better for most of us and eliminate the need for a graphics card, the game playing people will probably still need the most advanced graphic cards. There are basically four types of computer users. The first type no longer use a desktop or laptop computer, they do everything they need to do right on their cell phones. When we look at our cell phones and realize their potential I think most of us know it won’t be long before they replace everything. Those of us who do a lot of writing and such will connect a decent sized keyboard into the phone and hook it up to a monitor and maybe even attach a mouse. These attachments have already come out to some extent. I was running three monitors off of a laptop computer connected to a great sound system and it operated as well as any desktop. The next step will be doing this with a phone which in essence is really a very powerful computer.

The second type of computer user is someone like me. I do a lot of writing, some art and take a lot of photos. I find the cell phone display too small for this work and need to use Microsoft Office. I also do a lot of website work. While I don’t need the most powerful equipment, I do need something which is adequate to run several demanding software programs at once. I did use a powerful laptop with an Intel I7 chip, but now I am using a desktop with an even faster I7 chip.  I have no problem running anything I want simultaneously. My biggest problem comes from Microsoft. It happens when they are sending me updates to Windows 10. Many times it causes software not to operate properly. I guess I shouldn’t have the setting set to automatic updates, but still the downloads and installation should be seamless and it is anything but. Except for this my desktop computer does everything I want and it accomplishes it in a timely manner. It is a far cry from computers ten years ago. My setup would be more than adequate for everyone if they weren’t game players and even they would be able to play most of the games on full settings.

Now to the game players. Computer games just keep getting more demanding of resources. I don’t play any, but the most simple of games such as card games and occasionally Blitz, Candy Crush and other simple ones. Let me start by saying since I don’t play the demanding games, I don’t know much about them except for what others say. I have read one of the most demanding games is Witcher 3. When one understands how these games are created and what is needed to power them it becomes obvious the most powerful computers and graphic cards are needed to run these games with all the game switches turned on. Many if not all games can be run without all the bells and whistles on and this enables lower performing computers to run them, but the effects are not the same. Gamers want to be able to play a game to its fullest and who can blame them? I know if I spent big money for a game I would want to be able to have it perform to its fullest. Gamers want the most powerful computers and graphic cards and if they have enough money this is what they will always buy.

The last type of computer user is someone who is using their computer to run formulas, crunch data and such. This can also be a very intensive use of a computer, but does not usually need a graphics card. An example of this is easy to find. There are many sites such as SETI which ask people to release time on their home computers so data crunching can take place. It just so happens if enough home computers are used this way they can form a powerful super computer. The more powerful the home computer the faster operations can be performed on it. When people do art work on a computer powerful logarithms are taking place in the background. With art work you would want a decent graphic card and many could do with the best built in graphics even for serious work.

With the building in of decent graphics into the computer’s processor it will allow the size of the desktop computer to shrink again and it may be possible for a chip like this to be put into a cell phone in the future. If this happens and the heat can be kept down and the proper connections made available to the cell phone, it will spell the end for desktops and laptops. There will be no reason for them to exist anymore. If we look a little further into the future we may find that cell phones will need no connections, because they will be capable of generating a screen in midair and a holographic keyboard and mouse on any flat surface.

Looking into the future even further cell phones probably have their days numbered also. I say this, because as things shrink, cell phones will shrink right along with them. Cell phones might eventually become the size of a ring and even that may not be the end. There may come a time when humans will have a powerful computer built right under their skin, perhaps on their arm and it will be able to project right onto our skin. We are living in a very exciting time and people born today are going to see the most incredible things in their lifetimes. Computers have become the basis for almost every electronic device and as I said our cell phones are just powerful computers. Years ago they would have been considered super computers.

The future might create even more uses for our computers, ones we can’t even imagine today.