Nvidia CEO: The PC Has Lost its Magic

Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang recently told the BBC News that the PC has lost its magic... or, at least, the PC as we've come to know it today. While he's not condemning the platform in any way, he does offer a valid point: hardware has reached a mature level, making it one of the reasons why PCs no longer amaze us as they once did. But what's the next level? Where does technology go from here?

The Nvidia CEO foresees a future where gesture recognition and computer "vision" come into play, when a PC knows that its owner is sitting in front of the screen simply by observing the user's face, the way he moves and speaks. While that may sound a bit far-fetched and ripped straight out of a science fiction movie, Huang believes it to be a possibility in the next generation.

"These kinds of capabilities are certainly within the next generation, because we have created a processor for the GPU that makes it possible to do parallel processing so much faster on a PC," he told the BBC. "We think this GPU technology is going to transform computing in a way that will bring back the magic to consumers."

Huang's lengthy interview with the BBC spans the history of Nvidia, going back seventeen years when the market was saturated with over 70 companies churning out GPUs, to the recent CES 2010 trade show where Nvidia was boasting about its latest GPU-powered movie, Avatar. But during the interview, Huang made one thing perfectly clear: even though the company is expanding into new areas, PC gaming will still be its primary focus.

  • Onyx2291
    Well I am behind on technology so it will continue to "wow" me when I upgrade :3
    Reply
  • alikum
    I don't know what's in this guy's head but to say that hardware has reached a mature level is an understatement. Show me a 1 sec boot PC then I'll agree with you. For software developers like me who run instances of database, server, design tool and development tool, I still find Quads to be slow.
    Reply
  • masterjaw
    "mature" huh? So, where's Fermi?

    IMO, Nvidia should stop talking and just get to work for them to be able to put their paper-based GPU into reality.
    Reply
  • r3t4rd
    spans the history of Nvidia, going back seventeen years when the market was saturated with over 70 companies churning out GPUs
    Yeah and its because of Nvidia there is hardly any competition left except for ATI. Two Companies (little advancement and inovation) vs 70 Companies (Sky is the limit for advancement and inovation). Brings back the good old days of 3DFX, Diamond Mult, Trident...

    These kinds of capabilities are certainly within the next generation, because we have created a processor for the GPU that makes it possible to do parallel processing so much faster on a PC
    Sounds awfully similar to Intel and Rambus Memory fiasco. You have to remember, Rambus Memory was much more faster and better than DDR. But, DDR was cheaper.

    Jen-Hsun Huang is really saying: "ATI is kicking our behinds. We can't get Fermi out the door. People are catching onto our re-hash of older GPU's. Intel's a bitch. Um...nevermind that, look we know you guys will buy into our GPGPU processing because we are going to charge you an arm and a leg for something mediocre."
    Reply
  • mfarrukh
    He's DAMN RIGHT
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    This amounts to Nvidia bailing PC for consols. So be it. ATI will gladly take the monopoly.
    Reply
  • trinix
    Can we please consider the words from Nvidia's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang worthless talking to air and stop making newsposts about it. It's not like anything intelligent ever leaves his mouth. I hope Nvidia fires him and starts putting his gpu's where it's words are.
    Reply
  • 4ILY45
    Nvidia abandoning GPUs??
    Reply
  • blaze15301
    technology always amazes me because i went from a 200mghz cpu with like 28 mb of ram to a whooping tri core 2.8 cpu with all the trimmings
    Reply
  • Maxor127
    If you put it that way, I haven't been dazzled by a PC since 1992, and technically that was a Mac. And really, who cares? It does what I want it to do, and that's all I want from it. Gesture recognition sounds (almost) completely worthless and certainly wouldn't dazzle me. Reminds me of when I had a voice recognition login screen for my computer, which was fun and cool for about a week.
    Reply