Recently, Nirav Patel, founder and CEO of modular notebook manufacturer Framework, posted a long post on his official blog, stating that personal PC computers may be coming to an end.In the article, Patel reviewed Framework's efforts over the past six years, proving that high-performance, thin, repairable, and upgradeable notebooks are feasible, and pointed out that repairs are changing from the exception to the norm. "Even Apple has embraced this trend in its latest notebooks."
But he immediately changed the subject:"I started this company to fix a broken industry. So, mission accomplished? No. The PC is dying as we know it, and that's a very real situation."
He pointed the finger at the AI wave. Currently, technology giants and AI data centers are hoarding memory, SSD, HDD and various chips at a record speed, turning computing into a "winner takes all" competition.
As a result, the price of PC parts has soared, far beyond the affordability of ordinary PC enthusiasts.He said that the shift from ownership to subscription and the rise of closed black boxes means that users no longer have control but passively accept services provided by the cloud.
Patel believes that computers are changing from "bicycles for the mind" to "self-driving cars that take you directly to your destination."
He also said: "No matter how inevitable the scenario of AI taking over everything sounds, as long as there are people in this world who want to have their own computing means, we will be here to build hardware for them. Choose your operating system, modify your hardware, keep data and computing locally instead of renting it from the cloud, we will always fight for such a future."