Intel's architecture group Rama Shukla thinks that the lines between a netbook, laptop and tablet are disappearing and will have gone within a decade.

According to Tom's Hardware he told the assembled throngs at the SEMICON West conference in San Francisco that it will be difficult to see where one device goes and the next one takes off.  While the concept of PCs is already outdated, in future PCs will probably serve as "personal companions" instead of bulky devices. They will have the job of synchronizing an individual cloud of information that users will be able to share with others or keep private.

Skukla said hardware manufacturers will have to address this cloud trend by working closely with software developers and distributors so that end-users don't suffer from an identity crisis as they blaze their way through the web. Intel thinks there will be some major advances in processor technology within the next five years. Graphics performance on mobile chips alone is expected to rise by a factor of 12 by 2015.

Skukla didn't say what he envisioned consumers would actually use in ten years, probably some hybrid beast that takes days to type anything onto. (You mean an iPad? sub.ed.)

More here.