Are touch-enable desktop PCs going to become more popular with the on coming Windows 8? (or ever?)

Posted by jhenkinson on August 2, 2012 12:36 am 33

Ok, so this post today is a different take from me on Windows 8, nothing about keyboard/mouse interaction, nothing about changes or workflows ... None of that today.

The topic of today is much more positive: Do you think Windows 8 can help promoting and increasing the popularity of touch-ready monitors for home-built system? And more importantly, do you think the prices of such hardwares will be more affordable in the next few years?

Disclaimer

Now before I get the discussion underway, there is something that I want to address first:

This discussion is meant for desktop PC enthusiasts, if you are not an enthusiast but a casual user or however else you want to identify yourself, you are welcome to read on if you want to, you are also welcome to join in to the discussion using the comment section below. However, if you do participate in the discussion, please stay on topic and be polite.

I don't want to see another war today with things like "oh, get a grip, desktop PCs are already dead ..." or "mobile computing is the thing now ...". If you think you may not be able to resist the urge to post comments like that, I humbly ask you to leave now. Those comments will be ignored and unanswered (well, from me at least).

The new OS and touch-enabled system popularity

Actually I got the inspiration to start this topic while reading someone comment about how often new Windows releases help promoting new hardwares and such and I think it's interesting.

I have been fancying of building a new desktop system for quite sometimes now (my PC is now about 4-5 years old, the hardware is just so so, but I get by alright, so I kept putting off upgrading, lol). And even though Windows 7 isn't optimised for touch, I was fascinated by the prospect of being able to use a touch-based 20-plus-inch monitor (I'd like to build my PC, I'm not really into the packaged All-in-one PCs available).

Problem is those monitors aren't exactly in what most people would consider as "the affordable region". I've searched around and most touch monitors at that size cost from $370 and up - while in my build, the PC itself complete with core i7 processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM and a dedicated graphic card only totals up to around $720 give or take. So the monitor costs nearly half the whole PC set up.

With the interest shown in Windows 8 from the public recently, I hope that touch monitors would also catch on once the new OS is released and as its popularity rises, more manufacturers will come into the game, increase competition and thus reduce prices.

How about you? Would you be interested in a touch-enable desktop PC system?