Mobile Phones To Replace Your Next Computer

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5092826/site/newsweek/' target='_blank'>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5092826/site/newsweek/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"One hundred nineteen hours, 41 minutes and 16 seconds. That's the amount of time Adam Rappoport, a high-school senior in Philadelphia, has spent talking into his silver Verizon LG phone since he got it as a gift last Chanukah. That's not even the full extent of his habit. He also spends countless additional hours using his phone's Internet connection to check sports scores, download new ringtones (at a buck apiece) and send short messages to his friends' phones, even in the middle of class. 'I know the touch-tone pad on the phone better than I know a keyboard,' he says. 'I'm a phone guy.'"</i><br /><br />This is a really interesting article on the current and future of your mobile phone. It seems to deal a lot with PalmOne, but that doesn't really change the point of the article. I agree that eventually mobile devices will replace the computer as we know it today. However, we are a long, long way from this. Over the last week I was forced to use my mobile devices only, as my laptop was returned for a little warranty work. So I have some fresh experience in this area. Although I was able to get by, there was a lot of stuff that I was unable to get done until my laptop returned. Some things just require a larger screen, a keyboard, and a mouse. At least for now. :)

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah, I agree - as much as I like my Pocket PC and Smartphone, I've found that at the moment, I still need to have a laptop. I can't truly productive and mobile without it...

[Ben]

I disagree - from my perspective. As an attorney, at least, a powerful smartphone and a great support staff (secretary, legal assistant, and team of paralegals and project assistants) back at the office is all I need to be productive and mobile. I spend most of my work day on the phone conferencing with colleagues and clients anyway, so a mobile phone does the job. I need to be able to read and view documents (word format, excel spreadsheets, .pdf documents, and so forth), but I can call in edits if the device I am using does not allow me to make changes. Usually I just need to see the document and discuss the issues that it raises. Also, I can do legal research relatively effectively, even from a small screen, though I would like a G3 or faster type of connection.

Admittedly, on days when I need to compose a brief or create other significant documents, a full-sized keyboard is essential (though a folding stowaway keyboard could do the trick) and a regular screen sure helps. I can always dictate the simpler documents (letters, opinions, etc.) directly into the phone recorder as a memo, and then email them back to the office and have someone type them up. Ultimately, though, what it takes to be mobile depends on what you do. Since time is incredibly valuable, I would rather have a smartphone with more processor power, memory, and advanced connectivity than a larger screen, mouse, or keyboard. My greatest need is a printer and fax, and they usually have those wherever I am staying, so it is possible to be mobile without the laptop.

If the real goal is to be mobile and productive inexpensively (without a support staff, available hotel business center, and so on), then that is still a few years away, and perhaps impossible for professions like mine.

:idea: What most people really need is a device that is extremely portable, yet has a projector that can display the image on a wall or the back of a plane seat in 15 or 17 inch size, and another projector that creates a virtual keyboard on the desk or tray in front of them, and finally has almost all the speed, storage space, applications, connectivity, and compatibility of whatever "everyone else" is using. I think that is all it would take for all of us to be free of the office for as long as our batteries hold out (though it would be pretty tough to work from the beach if there are not flat surfaces onto which the screen and virtual keyboard can be projected). Maybe for the beach you would need a flexible screen and keyboard sown into your shirt, since you will be taking that off anyway as you soak in the rays. :)