Insight Post - Mobile Computing is Reality
As I mentioned in a previous post I have started posting in the Insight Community. I also said that I would also post this information here as well.
Insight:
LetsTalk's PhoneTalk blog wants to add new voices to its website, and they're posting regular Cases here for the Insight Community to add interesting new content to their site. The winning submissions for each Challenge Case will be posted (perhaps with some editing) on the PhoneTalk blog -- with credits to the author. The following is LetsTalk's next assignment:
More and more mobile phones are flaunting Qwerty keyboards and fast internet connections, and at the same time, smaller than sub-notebook computers are trying to break into the market to offer phone-like portability. Will these approaches eventually converge? Would you buy a Nokia subnotebook? How will 3G data plans affect the evolution of mobile computing? How would you predict the growth of smarterphone (or sub-subnotebook) adoption? What factors will accelerate the growth of mobile computing? What sort of milestones will signify a new era of mobile internet devices? When will these milestones occur?
Response:
Laptops and mobile devices will never converge into a subnotebook device. Mobile devices allow remote users to easily access data while on the move but without a full keyboard and screen their usefulness is will always be limited. Having demo'ed the Fujitsu LifeBook
, the keyboard is limited for users with larger hands and screen is hard to read for users with bad eyes. The beauty of a mobile device like an iPhone, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile phone is that they extend functionallity in a small package. Users will never carry a Subnotebook in a holster on their hip or stuffed in their purse. I personally would never purchase or use a subnotebook.
Mobile high speed data plans have allowed mobile computing to be come truly mobile. Mobile broadband at 3G speed allows users to have a usable mobile computing experience. Cellular data connections were limited in their functionality especially when it came to Web 2.0 sites. This has changed drastically with 3G networks.
I predict smartphone adoption to grow as business begin to realize ROI from extending their networks to these devices from both an internal and external standpoint. These numbers are further compounded as consumers access more and more of their data on the go. Users want to access their data when and where they choose. This trend is backed by Gartner Research who's figures show that worldwide Smartphone sales grew 29 percent in the Q1 of 2008(Gartner, 2008) alone.
A new era of mobile internet devices has already been reached with the extension of the 3G network to handheld devices. This trend will continue to grow as more businesses extend their mobile capabilities and consumers purchase devices that integrate with their online lifestyle.
