Back in the early days of handheld devices, Microsoft dubbed its contender the “Pocket PC” and, indeed, designed it to emulate a small version of a Windows PC, because the PC was the main — often the only — way to perform digital tasks. My, how things have changed.

Over the last seven years, since the introduction of the iPhone, the PC has gradually been dethroned by the smartphone (and to a lesser extent, by the tablet) as the key digital device. PC sales have fallen significantly in recent years, racking up their worst annual sales ever last year, while smartphone and tablet sales have soared. Almost all of the energy that developers once put into making software for laptops and desktops is now devoted to making mobile apps and mobile websites.

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