Image credit: Microsoft

It's difficult to see the big picture when you're standing in the middle of the canvas. And the middle of the canvas is where we are now as we transition from a world of always-connected-smartphones and sometimes-connected-PCs to always connected smartphones and Always Connected PCs. Most critics can't see past a limited focus of the PC form factor not needing to be always-connected. We have Wi-fi and hotspot tethering for that after all. Then there's that extra data cost for one's Always-Connected PC on top of one's cell phone plan. These concerns are easily addressed. Ultimately it's not about how you're living in this increasingly connected world, it's about how your kids, tomorrow's decision makers, live in it. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more A shifting reality

The above concerns are relevant in the context of an always-connected, light computing world where the cellular roadmap has been ruled by smartphones for just over 10 years. The 2007 advent of the iPhone made smartphones the primary computer for many consumers. Desktop computers lagged behind this mobile revolution as the legacy tools for mundane and demanding productivity, while light mobile computing found its home in the pockets of the masses. The full power of Windows couldn't be efficiently sustained on a mobile processor. This is the world twenty-somethings grew up in, and the only world younger children know. Things have changed. Celluar infrastructure can now accommodate the robust demands of desktop computing. Thus, contrary to popular belief, the PCs arrival on the cellular roadmap via Always Connected PCs (presumably followed by rumored Project Andromeda category devices) isn't a forced attempt at mobile relevance by Microsoft. It's the natural evolution of connected computing supported by Qualcomm. How Qualcomm and Microsoft are making PCs post-smartphone devices It's naïve to have assumed that always-connected smartphone computing would remain the only always-connected computing platform for the masses. The eventual move of full PC computing to the cellular roadmap in a mobile world where more complex computing is demanded was all but inevitable. A shifting model for a shifting reality