Laptops have been very popular among consumers and have gained rapid prominence from late 1980′s onwards. Their market share has increased from less than one percent in 1984 when the first Apple Macintosh was introduced, to more than 50% in 2008 when laptops took the lead from desktop computers.

There are several reasons why laptops have gained increased acceptance in mass market. First, they provide portability in an increasingly mobility oriented global society. Laptops can be easily moved around within one’s home, office or taken for travel domestically or internationally.

The concomitant pervasiveness of wireless internet has also made laptops an attractive choice for web surfing and overall computer use. It is likely that laptops will increase their lead over desktops in coming years and it may be possible that by 2020, laptops will outsell desktops at a 3:1 ratio compared to 4:3 ratio today in the global marketplace and desktops will look increasingly obsolete.

However, laptops do have newer and more mobile personal computing rivals such as tablets and even smartphones. Even within laptop market, a new cheaper subclass called netbooks has emerged, which includes some basic features such as web surfing, e-mail and creating/editing word documents and runs on a low cost processor. This means the laptop market will fragment and evolve in next 5 years before re-consolidation happens again.

Since tablets now offer web surfing, e-mail access and many of the same features as laptops at a much more affordable price, there might be a possibility that by 2020, laptops will have reached their maximum penetration globally before seeing a plateau and even a long, albeit imperceptible decline.

If tablets begin to offer big enough screens (9-inch) with long lasting batteries, laptops might become a niche market by 2020 catering to mainly gamers and scientific community where computing power, intense multitasking and attention to detail will necessitate larger screens (13 to 17 inch) and more powerful processors justifying the higher ownership costs.

No, your toaster won’t crawl up your bed and kill you. This isn’t “The Terminator,” nor is it “iRobot.” But it can’t get much closer than that, especially if you have attended the Consumer Electronics Show this year in Las Vegas. Android Appliances! That’s all that needs to be said. The apocalypse has come, and machines will rule the world.

Okay, not really. But it’s funny to think that. Really, all the latest in technology, we’ve seen in the making: that includes smartphones (which are still big and developing even better and better), tablets are still huge due to the release of the iPad last year, 3D and Internet TVs are becoming a big thing (but you have to admit, you probably saw that coming anyway), and of course you can’t deny the obvious advancement of video gaming (hello! XBOX 360, Wii, Playstation 3, PC, Apple, etc. etc. etc. etc.). But have you ever heard of a refrigerator that can send a text to your phone, telling you that the fridge door is open?

Oh, dear Lord! The acopalypse HAS come. Machines will rule the world!

No, not really. So let’s move on.

The story is that South Korean-based company entitled LG is now promoting a line of essentially self-aware appliances. Android appliances. Basically, they’re connected through wireless capability to any network you happen to own, be it a wireless network through your computer, or your smartphone. Yes, your fridge will now actually ‘talk’ to you. Can you imagine the possibilities with that one? Try owning an oven that’ll let you know it’s time to take the turkey out while you’re at Walmart buying some last-minute Christmas presents. Talk about convenience.

Before you know it, home security systems will be a thing of the past. They’ll have a home-based flamethrower that’ll attack the moment there’s an intruder. Technology has definitely come a long way.