For a brief moment, the big PC brands turned away from shoving needless AI into everything and remembered that people use computers to do and build things.

Artificial intelligence is for businesses; computers are for the rest of us. At least that was the general idea we can glean from the 2026 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which is held annually in Las Vegas and serves as the spiritual renewal of the technology journalists' vows.

First among them (the vows) is not to report on vapourware -- concept products that will never reach consumer shelves -- but it's a cardinal rule that often gets overwhelmed by the sheer awesome of the wares placed on display.

By all accounts, there was precious little for the average consumer at CES this year. The show floor was dominated by clever components, but what truly stood out was a pivot back to human-centric products, with Dell leading the retreat from AI everything, everywhere, all at once. And most of it is coming to SA.

Getting back to people

Dell's head of product, Kevin Terwilliger, had this to say about the company's direction: "One thing you'll notice is the message we delivered around our products was not AI-first. So, a bit of a shift from a year ago, where we were all about the AI PC.

"We're very focused on...