2007 is now settled - will 2008 be any different?

[Final-Fan]

MikeB said:

Mummelmann said:
The handhelds are quite different still, with much weaker hardware

QFT

@ shams

Do you think PDAs and smartphones compete much with desktop PCs? You can do almost everything on their small screens, browse the internet, send emails, watch movies, play games, a majority of functions desktop PCs are used for!

A popular Amiga graphics app ported to PDAs, Photogenics (includes demonstration videos):
http://www.idruna.com/products_pocketpc.html

Actually, laptops are a much closer analogy.  In the past, not only were laptops much more expensive for the same amount of power (or ridiculously underpowered for the same price), but it was just not possible to get one as good as the best desktop.  More recently, the prices came closer, and laptops more powerful, but still it was not possible to have a laptop as good as the desktop, and for the price of a desktop you could only get a laptop that was pathetic in comparison (but relatively less pathetic than in the past).  Today it is possible (if you don't mind spending way too much) to have a laptop as good as the best desktops out there. 

Similarly, the gap between handhelds and home consoles was enormous; later on, technology advances in both hardware and batteries helped the handhelds catch up, but home consoles were also taking leaps and bounds ahead.  Now, unlike laptops/desktops, there is still a huge gap between handhelds and home consoles, but at the same time handhelds are seriously narrowing the gap (perhaps due to home consoles' running into a technology barrier and lack of a dramatic technology benefit like NES/SNES, 2D/3D, etc.).  DS games look and play great; it has the advantage of much better hardware (like the 360) and innovative new control capabilities (like the Wii).  The PSP is like the PS3 would have been if it was launched at $400 -- a great success on its own, but not even close to Nintendo's juggernaut.  Also, I would argue that the laptop/desktop analogy still holds true because at normal price points there is still a huge technology gap between them.