03-25-2003, 09:56 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 215
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There will always be a situation where a cell phone is too small, but a laptop is too big. Handhelds are the perfect middle, everyday, 24/7, computing device.
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03-25-2003, 10:01 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 123
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You state great counterpoints to this article, Andy!
I think that the author has (like so many others) used a line of logic best suited to their need (or preference). When we are comparing devices in the notebook and PDA categories, we are talking about two distinct segments. Each has benefits and drawbacks. For every "minus" argument, there is also a "plus". Comparisons (and statements) like those made in the article only confuse those who are uneducated regarding the differences. It usually falls upon people like ourselves (speaking as the Pocket PC community) who have to undo all of the misconceptions.
Of course, straightening this all out for the non-PDA world does give us something to keep us out of trouble... 
__________________
Don SorcinelliMicrosoft MVP, Windows Mobile DevicesEditor-In-Chief, BostonPocketPC.com
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03-25-2003, 10:30 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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Handhelds Thing of the Past
http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20938.html
"My grandchildren will probably look at handhelds sitting behind a display case in a museum dedicated to early electronic gadgets.", says Ephraim Schwartz in this article. Ephraim argues that PDA sales will drop and provides four reasons:
Reason 1. "Enterprise-level companies that buy units in the thousands are finding better ways to solve their mobile problems." Ephraim says that Java enabled cell phones are better. I say that PDAs and cell phones are melting together. Enterprise-level companies look beyond today's simple cell phones and take a harder look at the device platform. Java or .NET is the question, not PDA or cell phone.
Reason 2. "Real work requires real computers. As access to the corporate network is getting less and less problematic." Ephraim means that since WiFi adoption is increasing we won't be needing handhelds. I guess he believes everyone wants to carry around a laptop. I say it is not "either or", it is "both and". Connectivty improvements are great and both PDAs and laptops benefit.
Reason 3. "Wireless data cards in notebooks offer ubiquitous access." Ephraim observes that since the user can do more with a notebook, then the notebook is a better choice than a connected PDA. I say that the user does not always have to do everything. Sometimes it is more than enough to quickly read and reply to e-mail, browse the web, listen to music and verify an appointment. I can do that with my PDA. Again, I believe that we'll see more of different form factors rather than more of the same. Especially if that "same" is a big notebook.
Reason 4. "Bluetooth will be in both cell phones and notebooks before too long." Since Bluetooth can be used to hook up the cell phone and the notebook the need for a PDA diminishes. Serious work, Ephraim says, requires a notebook. I say that some serious work requires a notebook and some serious work does not.
We are seeing a market being born not die. More of more, not more of the same. Ephraim does a good job inspiring thoughts. It is just that my thoughts disagree with his.
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03-25-2003, 10:38 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 58
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size size size
it si no argument that laptops are more capable than any Pda on the market but the biggest difference is portablity.
I used variaous PDAs all through college instead of a laptop.
And i never regreted it. Any major items could always wait till i got home for my main pc.
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03-25-2003, 10:40 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 354
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by weyoun6
There will always be a situation where a cell phone is too small, but a laptop is too big. Handhelds are the perfect middle, everyday, 24/7, computing device.
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I think what we are seeing in computing now (and of course in the future) is a much wider range of computing devices rather than simply putting everything into the box of desktop pc or phone. Take the tablet pc for example, it blends features of existing PDA design with that of a laptop to produce something more powerful than a PDA and yet easier to carry around and use on the go than a traditional laptop. I think there will be many other computing devices to fill other gaps in the spectrum too, we have a choice of devices from the smart watch (Microsoft SPOT devices) right up to the largest mainframe with a huge number of items at many stages between. The software will evolve, the hardware will evolve but there will continue to be personal devices which we may carry round in our hands or worn about our person somewhere.
The name PDA already covers a multitude of form factors, and these will change as input and output methods change, but we will still have Personal Digital Assistants. Intelligent devices we carry with us to assist with daily life. This need not be as narrow minded as defining such a device as an electronic calendar and addressbook.
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03-25-2003, 10:56 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 68
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Um... how do we define PDA?
I think the main problem is this... what is a PDA? I'm certianly going to own a smartphone at some point, but it's only going to be good for displaying info and very limited imput.
And a lap top is great! Um... unless I'm hitting the club, or going to a movie, or having dinner with friends, or... get the point?
The PDA stradles the size and functionality problems. I always have my IPaq in my jacket pocket. Even if I had a laptop, I wouldn't bring it unless I planned on useing it. The PDA is just there, even when you weren't expecting to check your e-mail, or get a call to about the server, or check the web becuase someone said at the bar that the war started.
It's just there. And I'm sure they will change, but I have to get back to defining the PDA. A smart phone, no matter how smart, isn't a PDA.
A PDA is a small device with some sort of input other than a phone keypad, has a large enough screen to support touch input and control, and the ability to play multi meda data.
I may just go one device, though I see some problems. There would be something nice about my phone having a PDA form. For one, I hate small phones. Two, I hate typing on a phone key pad.
The PDA will change, but will never die. It may come down to a flexi-screen you pull out of your pocke and unroll, but it will still be a PDA.
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03-25-2003, 11:05 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 287
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Andy,
I have to agree with you on this. I think PDA's will become only more popular for the enterprise.
You are right in that BOTH will be used but I think that for WAY too many users a laptop is over kill. Maybe we will eventually only have one OS whether desktop, tablet, PocketPC, SmartPhone and it will not really matter which hardware you use.
The PocketPC offers far too much too the mobile user to be replaced by laptops. It is kind of like saying that desktops will replace laptops.
Or like saying Star Search will replace American Idol. :wink:
dazz
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03-25-2003, 11:08 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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In my local Computer Paper today, I read yet another so-called tech journalist saying the by now all too familiar "... my Palm PDA is as portable as it gets, but a writer's tool it is not - even with an external keyboard" (Geoff Hart - The Computer Paper, BC edition). Now, I'm no Palm advocate, as anyone who's read my contributions knows, but this offends me. How can someone like that, or the 'journalist' quoted as the thread-starter here, claim to be properly advising the general (and relatively ignorant) consuming public when they say such blatant crap?! With DocsToGo (or whatever it's called, sorry Palmies) and a few other available packages for the Palm, or with Pocket Word and TextMaker and ClearVue for the PPC, such comments are complete drivel. Same applies in so many aspects of the mainstream media's mentality. It's as though they open the box, spend 5 minutes with a device, and claim an expert knowledge of the full potentials available.
Unfortunately, that sort of lax practice is all too common in the popular media today. The evening news is a baby-food version of reality, with little in the way of analysis or depth of understanding. I suppose such laxity will continue, as the general public seems content with a lack of insight. Makes them feel confortable, wasting their hard-earned dollars based on what some 'pundit' says is the way to go.... or to stay. But for anyone who actually uses one in work-related areas, a Pocket PC (and probably a Palm) is a very serious toolkit, worthy of a share of the limelight. And toting a notebook around, waiting for boot-up, preplacing heavy batteries or searching for an outlet.... that's just downright inconvenient and counter-productive in many environments. Leave the PC at the office. Do everything you can on a PPC, and discover how very close they are in capabilities to any PC.
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Gerard Ivan Samija
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03-26-2003, 12:44 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 810
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PDA'a are never going away. If anything, they will continue to evolve into devices offering strong integrated wireless capabilities. We see that now in many handhelds with Bluetooth, WiFi, and GSM/GPRS or 1xRTT. Soon, handhelds will offer all three in one unit, as many of us have seen with the new TI prototype. I believe one day, we'll see someone take all three of those wireless technologies and cram in GPS as well. Just as wireless technologies continue to evolve, so do PDA's, and they will continue to do so.
No one can carry a laptop around with them everywhere they go. If PDA's are becoming more and more obsolete, then why are they becoming more and more ubiquitous? Why are more and more people buying them? People have use for them almost as much as they do a cell phone. And most people either can't or don't want to use a hybrid PDA phone (because of the size or for other practical or usability reasons), unless you're talking about a SonyEricsson P800 (which is more phone than PDA, and ultimately, cannot do everything that a Pocket PC can do). Many people still need the bigger screen and additional capabilities and power of the PPC that can't be found in a device like the P800, but don't want to use a device of PPC size as a phone, hence, the need for both cell phone and PDA.
Interesting article, but off base, IMO.
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03-26-2003, 01:52 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5
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I am afraid that Mr. Schwartz is on the right track.
PDAs will not disappear but sale and use will decline to 25% - 40% of what it is now.
Gadget oriented people that do not really do productive work with their PDA, and the people who mainly use the PDA as an �Electronic Rolodex� will migrate down to the �Barbie� Cell phones.
Once the price of the TabletPC will stabilize, and the light TabletPC will come out (currently most of the TabletPCs are Tablet Laptops rather then TabletPC). People who really need to work will migrate up to TabletPC. Many professional users are frustrated with the size of PDA screen that does not yield itself to allow high productivity.
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