Why Home Computers Will Replace Televisions in the Next 10 Years

I have witnessed a shift from fortunate homeowners having a black and white television in their living room; to many having multiple colored televisions throughout their home; to all homes having the need for a personal computer. Technology has advanced at rapid speed.

While television is viewed for entertainment purposes, it can fulfill a need for knowledge. A home computer can do this and more. You can watch TV and do your work on the same computer. This new functionality is what we refer to as multitasking. A term given to make us feel the need to rush and do to be important, and the computer fuels this scenario.

While teaching college course over the last ten years, I've experienced students who would rather not use the computer. I saw a need for them to have minimal computer knowledge, it was apparent, that there would be little opportunity career-wise that wouldn't deal with computer interaction.

I have left teaching to pursue raising my family. I have preschoolers. I can't foresee a life for them that doesn't include some form of interaction with a computer on a daily basis. My five-year-old has my hand-me-down laptop and she uses it to play educational computer games. She has mastered loading a CD, starting the program and entering her name to begin the game. Keep in mind, she can't read. She can barely turn the TV on or find the cartoon channel.

I have seen the trend of families having more than one computer in their home. I often hear the need for multiple computers being explained away by an apology. There's also been a shift in working from home. The office is now mobile. Not only do we see many homes containing some form of a home office, we also see many people working a few hours from their home office remotely. Office hours aren't nine to five anymore.

With the use of cell phones, blackberries and wireless connections, we can be reached and work from just about anywhere. Just this week, on vacation, my husband received a call from the office. He remotely logged into work, fixed a bug and was back in vacation mode within an hour or two.

Typically, trends don't occur overnight, it takes time for the momentum to build. Will we see huge strides in technology in the next year? Probably not; but, definitely in the next ten years. Within the next year, we will see the computer garner a much-deserved position within the family setting. It will become more integrated into our lifestyles. We already use computer technology for communication, entertainment, education, work and knowledge seeking. It has bridged the gap between work and leisure and built new arenas for both. Good or bad, the lines between career and personal time will become blurred. People will continue to multitask, the speed of daily life will grow and we will probably be defining a new term to explain this phenomenon.