Before the advent of the home PC, there was not a computer for each person, but rather different groups of people shared a central processing unit with which they worked together. The I / O device it used to be a terminal like the one you see below these images.
Windows 365 and terminals, is it the way to go in the future?
At first glance it may seem like a PC, but nothing could be further from the truth. Since these units could not execute programs by themselves as they did not have a CPU, so they had to connect to a central computer. Due to this, the few companies that had a computer had to share the access time to it, what is more, the first PCs were created by creating an interface of the first low-cost processors with the hardware used in the terminals.
Cloud computing could bring back the era of terminals
There are many applications that we do on a daily basis that are no longer carried out on our local computer, think about it. What place do you use to check email? Most of you do it in gmail, which is a web application that runs in the cloud and therefore you are accessing it as if your PC were a terminal. Do you have a blog in WordPress? Your PC also acts as a terminal.
There are endless cases where applications are executed remotely today and the user’s computer is nothing more than a simple terminal. The difference with those that existed in the late 60s and early 70s of the twentieth century is that this time we have the internet and connectivity anywhere and with the appearance of hardware for low consumption PostPC devices it is possible for any user with an internet connection you can work with extremely cheap hardware as if it were a PC. If we add Cloud Gaming to this, then the combination of both parties can be a great threat to the PC.
There is a term called breakthrough innovation, based on the idea of a very low-spec product that satisfies no one but makes a task more accessible in use and / or economically than before. A PC with lower-middle-range smartphone hardware, a good connection, and Windows 365 can do the work of another more powerful PC and replace it in use for many users. We can even see tablets completely replacing high-end laptops and in some cases even gaming systems.
