As one of its ‘five predictions for the future’ we wrote about earlier, IBM says the end of the desktop is nigh: “Desk phones and desktop computers will gradually disappear, replaced by mobile devices, including laptops, that take on traditional office capabilities.”

What a load of utter rubbish.

Desktop phones are unlikely to disappear. They may well become more linked up with mobile phones, but we don’t reckon they’re done for. In much the same way as we don’t think the desktop PC is, either. Desktops are still used for sedentary jobs for several reasons – not least because they’re cheaper to deploy and crucially cheaper and easier to upgrade.

As for the home, serious gamers are unlikely to swap their home desktops for a notebook anytime soon. They might have one in addition, but it’s unlikely they’ll swap. Nvidia tried to foist its MXM swappable graphics card tech on the notebook community, but it’s since virtually disappeared almost without trace in the eyes of the consumer.

If you’re working in any way – even if you’re editing a load of digital photos at home – it’s far more comfortable to do it sat at a desk. And on a desktop. Typing is also more difficult on a notebook. 

And then there’s business. Intel might have made its multi-PC deployment VPro tech available on Centrino too, but businesses still won’t be keen to give more expensive laptops to workers who never leave the office. And that’s not to mention the cost of docking stations, monitors and extra keyboards and mice to conform to health and safety regulations – so more expense.

As for other “mobile devices” replacing desktops, what IBM has in mind is anybody’s guess. Does it mean the Intel-advocated Mobile Internet Devices or does it simply mean a Blackberry or iPhone? It’s possible, but at the moment these devices just aren’t a substitute for being at your desk – whether that’s at work or in your home.