You've seen the report by now. Research firm IDC says global shipments of PCs fell 14% last quarter - nearly twice as bad as expected.

The report says consumers are putting their money on mobile devices instead, adding that the sector is at "a critical crossroads."

OK. PC sales are declining, but is the PC really going away?

Regular News Stream contributor Nicholas Thompson, editor of the NewYorker.com, is a defender of this technology in decline.

He points out that PC sales will still outnumber tablet sales in the next two years and that, paradoxically, one of the reasons why PC sales are declining is that they simply last longer.

"In 5 years, when we fully enter the mobile era, there will be many of us with desktops," says Thompson.

Call me a PC-hugger. I plan to be one of them.