(Re-)integration dynamics of the PC platform

Since the 1990's, the PC has come under increasing integration pressure. Many electronic components which had previously existed as separate standalone components have been integrated onto the PC mainboard. Examples include the disk-drive, video, sound and network controllers. Some of these had in fact been de-integrated from the mainboard in the 1980's during the burgeoning years of the PC boom (when the capabilities of on-board electronics could not keep pace with the performance demands) before being re-integrated. Technological and market forces drive this integration trend. These forces are the result of the complex interaction between technological advances, industry competitors (old and new), suppliers, customers, complementors and potential substitutes for the PC. The forces are often inter-dependent and the dynamic system set up by a combination of all these forces produces the integration paths of the aforementioned components. Besides integration trends, the future evolution of the PC is another area of great interest. In particular, the roles played by architectural innovation and digital convergence are significant in determining the future utility of the PC, in terms of both its reach (extent of peripheral device coverage) and range (extent of application). The potential of the PC is currently held in check by the limitations of its existing architecture and the confines of the traditional industry boundaries. The removal of both barriers will perhaps lead to a shift of paradigm to that of a virtual PC, which is dynamically constructed (by the intelligent network computer) from shared resources found on the network. This scenario will usher in an era of universal computing - access to information and processing power anytime,

Department dc:contributor.department

Management of Technology Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Ong, Chin-Ann, 1972-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Henry Birdseye Weil.

• Management of Technology Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17804

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17804