Originally posted by mee Talking heads and smartphone fans for years have been talking the demise of the desktop. "Soon we won't see desktop PCs anymore. Gone but from history." I've read for the past 10 years now. Ok but I'm typing this on desktop from home, I work on a desktop in the office. They'd didn't just magically disappear with the advent and adoption of the smartphone or tablet device.
The same goes for mirrorless ILCs versus DSLRs.
Maybe. Someone here recently said argument by analogy can be inaccurate. Depends what trends are in motion and morph into something unexpected. Using the computer analogy, at work, we still buy "desktop" PC's (very small footprint) for routine workers who are not expected to need any kind of portability, 7am-4pm worker-bees. Their attitude is, I am done with my shift, don't bother me.
Among managers, who need accessibility anywhere, email is dominant on the cell phone, and a laptop with docking station at office and home. So, the laptop has become the new desktop. Semi-portable compared to "tablets" and more useful. Only this year, we have introduced tablets for retail store managers for a limited, narrow reporting function. What has enabled that, besides the tablet itself, are easy to setup WiFi over the network for secure usage AND the app to enable the reporting. This is not new technology, BUT it is CHEAPER now to implement.
Just yesterday, I ordered 2 laptops that will fold back all the way and ACT like a tablet if needed (Lenovo Yoga). People hate not having a keyboard available when sitting, so the keyboard is not going away anytime soon. AND, it is thought that detachable keyboards and mouse pads will end up breaking or get lost, so that functionality still has to be physically part of the design. We will see, we don't know yet if that is accurate for future "laptops".
Analog to this little story?? I don't know. Maybe DSLR's can morph into the similar situation where certain features of mirrorless are so annoying, that DSLR's can adapt. Or NOT! We don't know yet. Every EVF I have looked through gives me a headache. Small cameras are harder to hold unless the strap wraps around my hand/wrist. The lenses are not that much smaller than DSLR lenses (assuming the same sized sensor), both in girth and length (except for the savings in registration distance). Certainly, any WiFi/connectivity features in a mirrorless can easily be put into a DSLR, that is not an issue in my mind. I guess it boils down to two markets, one for "convenience" and another market for real photographic TOOLS that help someone be creative with output (which now includes software too!).
Ricoh has some tough decisions to make but it may take a while before they decide. K1 is a success and refreshed lenses are coming along slowly. They may decide to take APSC mirrorless and stuff those with "convenience" features. If that happens, there may be a large revolt amongst the Pentax base who would have to ditch their K-mount lenses, quite expensive for amateurs and hobbyists. Or Ricoh may just say, forget the whole thing and sell it off to someone else to deal with. Complicated market, we don't know how it will shake out!
But the K-mount seems to keep living on for some reason....