The PDA vs Mini PCs BLOG

[bkbroil]

RHODesign.com has published a blog today on the Mini PC vs. the PDA. The author rants on the mistakes made by current PDA manufactures and the future of where the industry could be going. He makes some very good points about the consumers likes and dislikes.
I'm convinced that the future of PDAs / smart phones / whatever is none of the current devices but rather a PC (or Mac) in pocket form
But why?
1.) People are lazy. Apart from a few % of the population, no one wants to have to learn new things.
2.) People are used to one specific desktop OS (mostly Windows), and that's what they want to stick with.
3.) People invested in software for their desktop, they don't want to do this all over again.
4.) People invested in time to optimize their desktop PC environment and invested in time learning it, they don't want to invest this time all over again.

And finally I believe that rather instead of having mobile phones becoming smarter and smarter to take over PDAs (as everyone today thinks the trend is), I feel that the opposite will happen: in 5 years from now PCs (or hopefully Macs) will be 'pocketable' and come with a built-in 3G or GPRS datacard (as well as WiFi and Bluetooth) to provide Voice over IP phone services

I believe he is on the right track. That Pocketable PCs will become smarter and smartphones may be replaced by these smarter devices. The flaw that I see are that "pocketable" pcs imply that they will replace the laptop or notebook and I don't think that you can replace the 15" viewable screen experience with a "pocketable pc". Consumers will always want a bigger and bigger viewing area as we see happening in the television industry. Yes they have made pocketable televisions but the market is buying the bigger and sharper screens not the smaller televisions to take on the go.
This article is definetly worth a read, it helps you to think about this industry in different ways.
What do you think?

[Bruanor]

In my opinion, while the pocketable PC does have the advantage of sharing software/useability with a stardard PC, I think it will only take over PPC's if they have the same instant-on, one button features for things like contacts/calander/notes etc. I know I don't want to have to boot up to grab a phone number from my contact list.
And of course, as I've mentioned before in other threads, there is the e-book issue. How comfortable would it be holding one of these larger/heavier devices while reading a book? And I personally, despite occasionaly being teased for it I like to wear my device on my belt. Its convenient.
My next device, as it stands right now will probally be the Samsung i700 PPC phone as it will allow me to do everything in one device without losing the functionality of either device.
I agree with bk that people do not want smaller laptop screens, and I think that the current PPC screen is pretty good for the most part.
Anyway, thats' my two cents
Bru...

[Brad Isaac]

I read through this and the author sees "NO FUTURE" (emphasis his) in PDAs. I do not share his feelings. His main arguments are that people are lazy and don't want to learn new things. Having been in technology for over a decade, it's basically the very few who do not want to learn new things. They are the people who hound help desks out of lonliness or stubborness.
People learn new things when they want a benefit in the end. After all, who here knew how to work an iPOD 5 years ago? 0% of us. But now that they provide the benefit of an entire CD collection in your pocket, heck yeah! Let's learn how to use it! It's the same thing with Pocket PCs, Palms and anything else. If you have no reason to use one, then why learn it?
For a full fledged OS to replace a Pocket PC or a Palm, it has to do two things no desktop does well right now. It has to go from being powered all the way down to fully awake in 1 second or less - automatically. If it doesn't wake or boot automatically, no alarms will sound. If it doesn't wake quickly, you won't use it.
JMHO,
Brad

[Addic]

Personally I really like and welcome the idea of a tiny pc I hold in my Pocket (not a brick in me hand).
I really enjoy using my Pocketpc and it provides great functionality for me as I nip about London and occasionally the rest of the country, what with the maps/gps, databases, contact info, e-mail, calender, music, movies and of course games.
But having said that I would also like to be able to send files/document directly to a desktop without using activestink or e-mail or having to convert it the docs back and forth.
This is especially important as I soon intend to go freelance in my field of work, which will involve attending client businesses for a few days a week. Now these businesses are not going to let me stick stuff all over their PC (fear of virus's) and being in the UK we don't have wide spread WIFI or BT access (cost and short sightedness) and I'm not likely to get access to all their TCP/IP addresses (dunno how to find them myself! and based on experiece it takes ages for the in-house IT to sort it out!).
So a device with Windows, a USB port (usb to usb file trasfer... nice) and a HUGE memory works well for me although I do hate the thought of having to use a nasty looking keyboard that my ham sized fingers would be expected to mash out a doc with.
And then after reading up on the spec's of the OQO and 'Flip Start' theirs the issue of battery life 2-6 isan't even a days work (more like 12, lately) and that's not including 'travel entertainment'.
That's without mentioning the health and safety aspects of being hunched over (like quasimodo) the 'Handtop' device for 8-12 hrs tapping away like Fred Astire in a tap dancing frenzy!
So I Guess what I'd really like to see is a memory card (big memory at least 3 gigs) that can fit in my hand with a LLOOOONNNG battery life that can be plugged in to any desktop (probably via USB) to provide access to the wealth of information I use for work, but that also has an interface I can use when not at a desktop to access the same info and keeps me busy when I'm on the move to with entertainment.
Hmmm! maybe not a esktop, 'Handtop' or a PDA but sounds like a usb memory card dongle thingie (with a full windows operating system) to me, that can be plugged into both devices (PC or PDA)? Just gotta sort out those driver installation issues though! and scrap Activestink.

[jkendrick]

I have been following mini-PCs ever since they first became vapor ware. And technically, they still are.
That said, anyone who follows my views on mobility will understand my point of view on this. In theory, a full PC in your pocket (almost- they will never fit in your pocket and be fully functional) would be a boon for mobile users. In fact, though, I believe they will be far from it. Why?
1. Battery life. Any device intended for mobile use must have a battery life that will last a heavy user AT LEAST one full day. To achieve that currently the battery will have to be too large and heavy to be "mini"
2. Instant on. Windows XP can put devices into standby or hibernation currently. Neither is true instant on. Standby comes close but if you put the device in standby and then carry it around it better have a "hold" button to prevent accidental activation. And hibernation (which is what I prefer on my laptop) takes longer and longer to come back to life as you add more memory to the PC.
I have been saying for a while that the ideal mobile device for me will be a PPC with slightly more PC capabilities built in. More memory, dockable to peripherals, etc.