English: "It's not just about the hardware being dead anymore. This is about changing the whole paradigm, and I'm not optimistic about what the new order is," said futurist Paul Saffo.

See more: Is the PC Dead? Looking Back on Two Decades of Debate Renowned futurist Paul Saffo and veteran tech journalist John Dodge ponder past predictions about the death of the PC.

Futurist Paul Saffo may have been the first to proclaim that the PC was dead back in 1991. Six years later PC Week editor John Dodge refuted Saffo's position, claiming the PC was not dead, but that it "will be with us a long time." Ironically, these two were on the front lines of a more than two-decade-long debate over the life and death of the PC that continues to this day amid the rapid rise of tablets and smartphones and slowing growth for traditional PCs. When contacted recently, both offered interesting perspectives on the cycles they've observed including the one the PC industry finds itself in today.