Are we headed towards a future where the idea of an antivirus program, or security software in general, is simply not part of the picture? We might well be, but not for a good long time yet.
In the last few years, consumer computing has come under attack like never before, and the attacks are only growing more clever and more concentrated. In response, there need to be changes to the platforms on which we do most of our computing, and new approaches to securing the platforms we already use.
Antivirus isn't going away. It's just changing its shape to meet the times. Or rather, it had better change, because the other options are few and far between.