Roger McNamee and I have two things in common. One: I desperately need a haircut. Two: I’ve officially given up on the dream of one-device-that-can-rule-them-all.
In this video, McNamee shows off his famously unruly locks and his famous Batman-like utility belt, in which he carries at least two iPhones, a Palm Pre, a Centro, a G1 and a Blackberry. In the clip, he’s telling me the Palm Pre won’t replace all of them, but it’ll come the closest. All I was thinking was “A keyboard and a good browser?! The Palm Pre will solve all my problems. When and where can I get one? My precious…my precious…”
Similarly, as the Pre’s release date gets closer, experts are getting in a tizzy about the upcoming “super smart phone” wars, which will ostensibly create a new golden age of competing options for consumers. But reading Walt Mossberg’s excellent compare-and-contrast of them all, I couldn’t help getting more and more jaded that this perfect device doesn’t exist and never will. Android has a great UI, but so far bad hardware. Microsoft and Blackberry are outdated in a lot of ways. The iPhone lacks a keyboard and is tied to AT&T. And Palm’s Pre looks great, but it’s still a Hail Mary play that could disappoint.
It seems the closer the industry gets to this elusive all-in-one promise, the more they disappoint. It’s a cycle we’ve seen over and over again in technology whether in hardware, enterprise software, or the Web. There’s an inexplicable tension between simplicity/reliability and doing it all. Think about it: Our phones now include cameras, video, email, instant message, music, the Web, games. But as the list of features on any one device gets longer, most people I know are carrying more devices than ever, not fewer.
I’m starting to think I’m doomed to have a utility belt of my own if I want any peace in my digital life. To continue my odd “Lord of the Rings” analogy, my hope that this one perfect device can bring stability and unity to my world is only making me irritable and paranoid—mostly that I’m missing calls, emails and appointments.
As of now, I’m saddled with a Blackberry Curve that works roughly 45% of the time. One of its more amusing quirks was the month when it refused to ring when Michael Arrington called. Only Michael Arrington. All I want is a phone with a keyboard that reliably sends and receives email and has a decent Web browser. Bonus points if it can work internationally. In an age of so-called “super smart phones,” when I’m paying close to $100 a month in service, why should that be too much to ask?
The biggest frustration– and perhaps core of the problem– is how many parties there are to blame. Take my own epic-fail-Berry: The biggest culprit is a company called 01.com, which supports my Zimbra email account. I love Zimbra’s user interface and features, but Zimbra doesn’t offer support. It worked well on my Treo, but Blackberry service has been a total nightmare. The company cops out that its Blackberry enterprise support is still “in beta.” Yeah, because Blackberries are, um, new devices?
Then there’s Sprint. The service plans are way too opaque, and I have a feeling I’m paying way too much for service. And it doesn’t work internationally. That’s incredibly annoying since I’m in other countries about half the time, and it’s one of the main reasons to own a Blackberry.
Then there’s the Blackberry hardware itself. Its battery can’t even last a whole day when it’s roaming, which it always is the days I’m at Yahoo’s headquarters. Even the third-party company that provides the insurance on the device gives you something to hate. When my first Blackberry got water-logged, they replaced it with one that didn’t work. I got another “refurbished” one that mostly works, but sometimes decides to die unexplainably. What is the point of insurance!? Sprint shrugs and says it’s an outside company and they can’t control it.
Every week when the device invariably malfunctions, I don’t know which company to hate the most and each of these players love to pass the buck around to each other. I’m not alone. Check out yet another TechTicker interview with Om Malik where he lambasts RIM’s CEO for saying buggy software was just a “reality” in today’s smart phone business. “Their business is making phones, if you can’t make phones with proper software, go sell peanuts,” he says. Hear, hear!
People tell me to get an iPhone but there are equal frustrations with AT&T’s 3G network and battery life; plus I need a physical keyboard. Most people I know who love their iPhone admit one of two things when you press them: Either they’re on their second, third or fourth phone or they also carry a Blackberry for email.
Compare that big mess to the devices that are actually delighting me these days. Most of them do only one thing, but they do it extremely well and reliably.
For instance, I no longer use the video camera on my Blackberry or my digital camera, instead I carry a FlipCam. I like how it feels in my hand, the navigation is drop-dead simple and I don’t need a cord to upload the video. The battery always works, and it holds just enough footage. I have never pushed the record button and not had it just record.
Similarly, I no longer try to read blogs or get news updates on my BlackBerry. Instead, I have a far better experience on my Kindle. I open it up and all my blogs and papers have been pushed to the easy-to-navigate device. What’s more: I can clip the passages or articles I want to read later or keep with one-click. Beautiful.
Even the iPod Touch has a role in my life. I don’t want an iPhone, but I love the idea of plugging the Touch into my sound dock and listening to the Pandora app around the house. (We haven’t actually gotten this to work yet, but I’m hopeful.) I’m sure if I spent more time with it, I’d find more applications I’d like without having to bring AT&T into the equation.
Sometime this week I’m getting a Peek email device. If nothing else, I’ll have it as a cheap backup to my Blackberry that so rarely works. If you’re not familiar with the Peek, see the video with the founder below. He was on Press:Here Sunday along with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Both companies have mastered the beauty of restraint and simplicity. (Although I still think the Peek’s service should be closer to $10 if they want mass adoption.)
And somewhat in the same category, I just got a MacBook Air, which I adore. If I need an ethernet port or a DVD player I can plug external devices into the USB. But I don’t need those things all the time, and with the Air I don’t have to carry them around inside a bulkier laptop. It works better and is faster than either of my other two MacBooks. And there’s the obvious plus that it is light enough I can actually carry it anywhere, so I invariably get more use out of it than other laptops I own.
And in my new, crestfallen world, weight matters: Just like Smart Phones are getting “feature creep,” my purse is clearly getting “device creep.” In fact, I’ve abandoned the purse altogether. Instead it’s a dorky backpack that has room for my Air, my Kindle, my Flip, my Blackberry, my iPod, my Peek (coming soon) and a yet undecided upon phone that will work internationally. And don’t forget their various cords. I may have Roger McNamee’s problems, but I’m drawing the line at an actual utility belt.
It’s hardly ideal, but seven years after buying my first smart phone, I’ll take a series of devices that actually work over one that over-promises, under-delivers and continually disappoints.
This is such a great article. You capture the sentiment we (we know who we are) each face with the daily disappointment of our otherwise insanely cool gadgets.
My Air’s battery sucks! My iphone is too slow and the email needs to be unified. My Camera (take your pick) is cumbersome and who has enough hands when your holding your kid and your iphone ? My satellite radio has too many dead zones …and on and on. 2 years ago I would have given one or possibly two limbs to own any of the above! Bottom line – as you stated is that there aint no perfect all in one. Not until we have 50mbps wireless, 10x batter life and real time voice activated handhelds. 2019 perhaps ?
2019 maybe! But, we need to start thinking about this. Which of these device will make it until 2010 or 12? I toyed with the second generation Newton, because I could get one for a half a grand, I broke down and got a BB right before the iPhone was actually released. The device that is closest is the iPhone, not an unmodified pure iPhone, but the haptic device that it is.
If the Pre can switch me, so be it. If an Adnroid device can make me move, fantastic. But, I need to see signs of the future of computing.
Good article. Hope more people reply because it would suck for all this writing to go to waste.
I dare to say its obvious any one of these companies could offer it all but they don’t and won’t. In the same vain that a car company could offer longer lasting parts or better designs, giving it to you little by little keeps you buying…and hoping.
My phone is a Nokia. It makes telephone calls. The CEO in the video is correct in my view, simplicity can go a long way.
If you stay on Sprint, check out their Blackberry 8800 world edition. It’s got EVDO in the US plus an unlocked GSM SIM card for use in Europe. I’ve had good luck with it on both continents.
Hmmm…Everyone I know seems to have an iPhone and only one has had to return for a replacement.
I’ve always been skeptical of the iPhone soft keys but, according to Leo Laporte (who used to really complain about it) you just need to trust it’s corrections and that it works well.
Overall though, yes, there is no nirvana except in iTunes (the band).
Well I’ve had to replace my iPhone 4 times. Their so called “warranty” doesn’t cover anything really. I have had to pay for all 4! After this one breaks (which is just a matter of time…) I am moving on to another phone. Hopefully one that just works 100% of the time.
I suggest you look for a ‘toughphone’ or perhaps think about a case.
It’s not actually called a warranty, it’s a “Protection plan”. And it covers everything but accidental damage. So either you dropped it or it got water damage. And most cell phone manufacturers don’t deal with replacing the phones, that’s done through insurance with the provider.
Great article on the search for the device holy grail. I have the Treo now and it is a step back from the palm based flip phone from samsung that died and is no longer made. There will be snow here in Phoenix before the perfect all in one appears.
A Internet mobile device that runs flash in the browser and allows background apps is what I want to see.
My Nokia E71 does both of these things, has a real keyboard, is thinner than an iPhone, has a battery which last three days, etc. It doesn’t have the panache or the large screen of the iPhone, but it’s way more functional (a multi-tasking OS is so incredibly more productive than a single-tasking one).
Carrying (and paying for) multiple phones around? That’s crazy!
An iPhone and a laptop and I am happy and productive.
Good luck with your approach.
The Peek CEO did a really good job in that interview. How can you say that the Peek is expensive at $20 month when you are paying for multiple phones which have to cost WAY more?
Re: “Most people I know who love their iPhone admit one of two things when you press them: Either they’re on their second, third or fourth phone or they also carry a Blackberry for email.”
I, too, have talked to many iPhone owners and they are almost universally positive about their phone and the only people I know that are on their second (or more) iPhone are after they lost, physically damaged or upgraded their iPhone. I don’t know a single person that carries an iPhone and a Blackberry (iPod touch and BB, sure). You must be hanging with a different class of folks than I am.
I don’t understand why your Blackberry doesn’t work. I have had one since 2003 on AT&T service and never have had a problem sending/receiving email, my company runs a BES and aside from 2 outages I know of no problems, oh and it works domestically and internationally. I have also had an iPhone since the day it came out, and I love it so much so that I dumped the Blackberry. As for international…until very recently only AT&T and T-mobile supported GSM, so if you knew you were traveling internationally half the time why wouldn’t you align yourself to one of those two carriers.
And I hardly think that 45 million iphone/itouch users who have collectively downloaded almost 1 billion apps would say that their device overpromises and underdelivers. And if Blackberry’s only worked 45% of the time I can assure you they wouldn’t be in business today.
You should try building something for a change and see how hard it is to please people.. Grow up and write an article with some facts, they teach you that in Journalism school…Oh I forgot you don’t have 30K to spend on that.
Re: “Grow up and write an article with some facts, they teach you that in Journalism school…Oh I forgot you don’t have 30K to spend on that.”
Wow, that’s pretty harsh IMO..
I follow her on twitter, so i might have overacted based on previous tweets..than again i am also reacting to the vapid ass kissing that is going to happen when Sarah-who is interesting and entertaining-and her completely clueless and boring friend julia Allison get together tomorrow and tweet about nothing.
You know. Once you get used the the iPhone keyboard, you’ll give up physical keys.
I type faster and more accurately with the iPhone screen keys and text correction than I do with hardware keys. I’ve had many devices, from a tethered palm 3/Nokia setup to windows mobile and blackberries. Physical keys are overrated at best.
As for browsing, email and just about anything else. There is little that I can’t do with just an iPhone.
Just my two cents, your mileage may vary.
“There’s an inexplicable tension between simplicity/reliability and doing it all.”
I think you just captured the whole problem in that one sentence. Perhaps technology hasn’t caught up to a point where we can have features jam-packed into one device without it being not user-friendly. Or maybe developers just haven’t gotten there yet. Either way, maybe developers and marketers need to stop making promises they cannot yet meet. But I also wonder, how many of us really have enough time to use all of the features that we wish were in our all-in-one device?
I’m willing to bet that you will get the new iPhone before the year’s out. And you’ll love it.
I love that all you did was complain like a child off his ritalin for a thousand words and morons are saying “great article!”
I have an iPhone, I need nothing else. My laptop if for writing more than a few paragraphs. That you insist on a keyboard like a grandmother that can’t adapt doesn’t mean the device doesn’t exist. It means you just like to complain.
And you do it well. Good job.
(written on my iphone duh)
Operator error…Lacy made poor choices.
When I allow my design mind to slip off into this reverie (yes, many of have been preoccupied with this concern as the comments thread shows) I find that I would actually be happier with 2 devices. My approach is to then list the use cases for my laptop, phone, camera, mp3 player etc. And then play with distributing the feature set across two devices. I usually find my imagination creating something with the form factor of a kindle, and something with the form factor of a larger cell phone. My presumption is that the two devices can “talk” to each other, that some of the key drop-dead features are replicated/sync’d on both (email, contacts, do list) and that the two devices are designed together ( or are based on standards that assure perfect interoperability based on well defined universal feature sets of each device.) Apple would have it’s brick/tablet duo, as would Nokia, and Samsung etc. a really smart design company will partner with Levi’s/Scott Vest/ Brooks Brothers / and Girl Fashion companies for vests/ jackets designed to look smashing (not like you’re a wanna be for the company formerly known as blackwater) while accomodating the two devices.
If I were Apple or Samsung or Nokia this is the direction I would move fast. 2 complimentary devices that work together to provide the full kit of features.
Well-written article. I couldn’t disagree with the author more, but I still liked it. It looks like the consensus in the comments is “Just get an iphone” and I agree.
Maybe this just proves I’m not the target demo for this site, but I find this all a little crazy. Why on earth would you need that many gadgets? I’d much rather read my RSS feeds on my Touch through Google Reader than to carry around a Kindle all the time that I’d need a bag for. Ditto for a physical keyboard. But I will grant that Flips are pretty darn useful.
I like the overall message of the article, but for different reason that most that have posted a response.
Here’s why – I find interesting, even fascinating at times, all of the gadgets for which most have some amount of passion. But to me they’re just gadgets, gizmos, toys. Sure they might be fun and/or convenient to have at times, but for the most part, I just don’t care.
Why? I’m a developer and none of these trinkets will ever replace or offer me the value of a laptop. Sure, there’s tremendous room for improving laptops, though that get’s a lot less attention, and I’d rather hack of a limb than ever invest in a MacBook.
But the laptop is here to stay, at least I hope so – the rest is just noise, a means for which those with money to spend cash they’ll have until all of the worthwhile jobs have been shipped overseas – at that point nothing will matter anyway…
Here’s an idea:
Simplify your life, and declutter. Who the heck needs so many devices? 90% of ppl who have Blackberries don’t even seem to need them most of the time – it just makes them feel important.
Lose the iPod Touch.
And lose the Kindle.
And for the love of God, you don’t need that Peek whatchamacallit. Stop giving yourself excuses to waste money.
The things we consider necessities today were luxuries 7 years ago.
Amen to that Henway.
If all-in-one features worked perfectly and technological components were at par with their specific-use-only counterparts, then maybe in the future. Seems obvious after all. But I’m reckoning we’re going to reach a point where we’ll simply not care, first.
Sarah, we know you know a lot about technology that my grandma is already using. Can you tell us something knew an interesting
)
The problem I have is that each option in the smart phone market has a partner that I can’t stand. Honey, I love you, but I can’t stand your family. In Apple’s case, it’s AT&T (well, that and Apple’s own limited-life iPod hardware model). Android would be great, with the right hardware and service provider. Nokia makes good hardware, but their OS doesn’t sound open enough to attract app developers (and going open source is not going to yield user-friendly results). Microsoft is going to bloat whatever it can. My preferred phone provider is too restrictive with its software (but its coverage and availability are great).
there is no such thing, it’s a myth. just like low calorie ice cream.
If there isn’t enough food and toilet paper whilst living under that bridge, moot city.
Fun article.
Sarah, i’m assuming you haven’t read Al Ries’s ‘Focus: Your Company’s Future Depends On It’.
Although its a few years old now (it IS a book after all) the premise he puts forward is clear and effective. Line extensions and convergent devices lose you focus..exactly as you’ve described. Well worth a read.
BTW, i was at a MultiMedia Commission the otherday, they gave me a pen that had a nail-clipper built in! …says it all really
I couldn’t agree more Paul. My Dad/partner Al has been trying to debunk the idea of convergence for years.
Short term iPhone has all the hype, but long term I agree with the comments on here. I think mobile technology will diverge in two directions. Touch screen, web/phone devices and keyboard/email devices. Life only gets more complicated.
- Laura
sigh, another article about sarah lacy
facts, sarah, facts. if you want to be a gonzo journalist, fine, get involved. why is ’sarah lacy’ the central focus of every piece of content i’ve seen you create?
Hihi,
You should stop commenting with that kind of I’m-a-dinosaur-i-learned-journalism-in-school-twenty-thousands-years-ago-YOU-is-evil attitude.
She gives you a real life story you can relate to, she gives you real live persons in video that prooves her point, and she gives you a fact : All-in-one devices are not yet available !!
Take care my friend and read more blogs you might actually learn a few things about our “modern age”
Ok just trolling
I’m not a journalist and I don’t believe in that educational curriculum. That said, I’m also not culturally illiterate. Here is some reading material that will help you understand my original post.
http://en.wikip...onzo_Journalism
http://en.wikip...nality_disorder
Great article. It really shows the dilemma with so called all-in-one devices. People have been dreaming of these ultimate killer machines for years and the industry hasn’t been able to deliver.
In my opinion there won’t be any real all-in-one device in the near future if ever. Why is that so?
There are limits to form and function and these result in compromises. The more you add the bigger the device gets and as much as it gets clunkier it loses appeal. And then there is battery life too.
Perhaps the ultimate all-in-one gadget will be feasible at some point in the future if we master the craft of nano physics to an extend that we can build form changing devices. Right now that’s science fiction but lots of these fantasies have come true. Let’s wait and see – and for the time being we have to live a plethora of gadgets and gizmodos which compensate each others shortcomings.
I own a G1 and rarely use my PC outside of work. I don’t need other devices because as it is I can barely find the time to catch up on everything. And I use every free moment to do so on my G1.
I’ve long used PDAs and smartphones and in my not so humble opinion, at least from my experience with the G1, we reached our moment. What’s going to matter most from now on is the degree of freedom developers have: both in breadth of APIs and permission to use them. Android has the advantage.
The idea of total convergence is itself ridiculous. Professional writers and professionals photographers should not be using the same device to do their work.
Take pictures and words for example…
Should this All-in-one-Wonder have a full 104-key keyboard and a DSLR camera? Of course not.
It’s all about planning and what you intend to do. It’s about Devices of Scale.
The DSLR is for “real” shooting, the Point & Shoot for mobility (at parties, picnics, parks, etc.), and the iPhone works for those shit-quality shots on the daily commute (provided everyone & everything remains absolutely still).
Similarly, I don’t think anyone expects Stephen King to write his next “Kindle novel” solely on the iPhone (but kudos to him if he can).
And if someone ever does create “The Ultimate All-in-1-der” they better have someone else simultaneously creating the greatest battery in the universe.
I have one device, it works well for me. Keep in mind that yall (TC writers) don’t represent the mass market even remotely.
You could basically take this article and replace phone/device/smartphone with car. There is a niche market that needs more than one car for a variety of ocassions (commuter, soccer, offroading, etc). However, the mass market tends to gravitate to finding one that *best* meets their needs.
Methinks you doth complain too much. First of all, have you always had such bad luck with everything? Second, who in the world uses so many devices!!
As someone said, there seems a consensus, get an iPhone. All the people I have met who have iPhones, love them. iPhone is a misnomer. The phone part is just a byproduct. It really is a mobile computer that also makes calls. The other devices are cell phones that also compute. There is a difference.
I hate my iPhone.
Fine then. Give it to me and stop complaining about it.
Not complaining. Stating a fact.
Just offering up another side to your comment “All the people I have met who have iPhones, love them.”
And I may hate it, but I paid a lot of money for it. Giving it to a complete stranger would just be silly.
“One of its more amusing quirks was the month when it refused to ring when Michael Arrington called. Only Michael Arrington.”
Now that’s really a SMARTphone, with douchebag filter! Keep it at any cost.
Hey, Blackberry works! At least mine (an 8830) does (w/ Enterprise Activation) and we run Groupwise…
What I read mostly here is a lot of complaining about the service provided by telco providers, insurance companies and other organisations and not really about the devices themselves.
Sure, these organisations count towards making our use of mobile devices either good or bad, but they are not a reflection on the capabilities of the device itself.
As far as device features are concerned, we’re not really there yet, no. We are, however, a long way further down the path to a really solid mobile device than we were just a couple of years ago – before the iPhone came along and shook up the marketplace like it’s never been shaken before.
What we need are devices that are as intuitive and flexible in their use as an iPhone, provide enterprise-level solid services (I guess we’ll have to have better providers for this, but I’m lucky, I live in Europe and my provider seems fine) and support the type of usage we need them for.
In other words, they don’t need to make coffee and probably don’t really need to be able to shoot HD video while you make a phone call! If I want to shoot a movie I’ll pick up a movie camera. If want to shoot some great macro shots of insects, I’ll choose my Nikon DSLR over my iPhone. If I want to watch TV then I’ll more then likely want to sit back at home and relax while doing it.
I also don’t care if I never have Flash on the iPhone (and I’m a Flash developer). There are good tools for creating great content on iPhones as it is and Flash isn’t really necesary. The same goes for Android.
What’s the perfect device going to look like?
It’ll never exist because we all want different things and expect different things from our mobile devices.
Amen
I’m not so pessimist. For one, the only criticism I see on Palm until now is that "they lack money" – which doesn’t actually affect me that much: if the device is great many will buy it, period.
Reading the comments, it’s clear the iPhone fanboys are missing out on a whole bunch of really cool things that have come out -since- iPhone…Flip, Kindle, ultra light laptops/netbooks.
There’s definitely a tech industry group think, and this is one area where the group lacks perspective. There are actually people out there with prepaid cell phones, dial-up modems, Zunes, cable company DVRs, Friendster accounts, Nokia candybar handsets, and Clinton-Gore ‘92 t-shirts…..
The Peek of course is not meant for the tech crowd of people already paying $100/month for a smartphone and talking into a burrito-sized gizmo. It’s for the people who want to avoid getting into that situation.
Devices are only starting to really evolve with relation to the internet. This kind of stuff requires a lot of technical work, interoperability, etc. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen, it’s just going to take time. Some of the issues people experience can be at the carrier/service provider level, etc. I think it’s early to be critical or believe it won’t someday happen.
My 8830 Blackberry has been amazing from a performance standpoint – great access to the internet, submerged completely in water and still worked, dropped dozens of times including flying ten feet in the air and crashing to the ground – and it still worked great. I now have the Curve and have zero problems. I only changed because I wanted a camera.
Shades of Andy Roonie
I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s struggling to find a single smartphone that ticks all the boxes
Great article Sarah. Very big league writing.
My dream of having the “all in one” five years ago are now realized in my iphone. Of course, there are still things i do with technology that it can’t do well (video cam, writing code, trying
), but as far as i’m concerned it has made my long ago dreams of an “all in one” come true.
This is a pessimistic view, but i understand considering your intense technology requirements. You probably never will have one device that does all the things you need to do *right now*, but perhaps one day you will have fewer tech requirements, and you’ll be able to carry a purse again
My great^(100K) grandfather back in Oldawan, Tanzania had to carry both a chopper core and a flake tool, which necessitated the invention of the man-bag. I’ve been looking for the complete multi-tool all my life. Knife, flashlight, scissors, kelly’s, pen, USB drive, screwdriver, and not big and scary. Why can’t the Swiss Army put all that in one device?
Like who doesn’t love their mobile home…
It took a little bit of time to get used to the keyboard on the iPhone, but now I can type on it so much faster than any other device I’ve owned because I’m not actually “pressing” any buttons. I’m only tapping.
Dude, come on–get a freaking iPhone already. How you can write such an article when there exists a product like the iPhone is beyond me. It is simply fantastic. Personally, it is my favorite consumer product I have ever had (sorry Sega 32X). My guess is there is some other, psychologocial, perhaps subconscious, reason you haven’t bought one yet. I know so many of you–you know you will love it, but you hold back and refuse to “give in” for some odd reason.
As for your criticism…the touch screen keyboard is great actually. I am not sure where you get that it’s annoying. I know probably over 30 people that have an iPhone, not a single one of which carries a Blackberry or another phone for email.
As for AT&T service, I can understand your criticism of that (although you are still nonetheless criticizing a service you haven’t even tried). Admittedly, I was apprehensive myself about this, and indeed it made it tough to switch from Verizon. As it turns out, my AT&T and 3G service has been great. Not had a single problem with it in fact, and for well over a year now. Never had a dropped call and never get static or interference.
And I am a little surprised about the battery comment. Surely you must know that the iPhone has the best battery of any other 3G phone, by a good margin too. Okay, I must stop. Something is not right when I am telling a “tech blog” something about the iPhone which is pretty common knowledge.
There are many small developments that are just getting off the ground that might make the all-in-one device a reality. These include the Mini Projector, The Laser “virtual keyboard” and so on. The question is do we actually want an all in one? “Jack of All Trades – master of none” is an old adage we should bear in mind.
What I would prefer to see would be a set of “snap-together” modules each of which did its job properly and which (like Lego) could clip together to produce one portable item containing the key functions I need.
So we would have :
- Battery Packs – small medium & large – depending on how many other modules you needed to run.
- A Phone
- A WAP Browser
- A GPS Device
- A Mini Keyboard (Blackberry size)
- A medium Keyboard (mini-netbook size)
- Two or three different sizes of screen
30mm x 30mm – for just the phone
60mm x 100mm – for GPS/Camera etc
120mm x 200mm – for MP4 video etc.
- A Mini Projector
- An MP3/4 player
- A Camera
- A decent microphone
- A solar Charger
- etc.
You could add the modules together in any order to suit your preference and take as many or as few as you need.
At home you would have a Keyboard & full size Screen (possibly with additional Storage & Processing power) that you could simply plug your device into.
Instead of upgrading the whole thing and throwing away good components – you would only need to upgrade individual components.
A common operating system & standard conectors would allow conectivity as easy as Pi(USB 3.1457!)
Ah what a dream!
Some real data would be useful. My BB Curve works perfectly for the record though the browser is only adequate.I traded from the G1 because of battery life and size. Wife is on third iPhone.
>>which will ostensibly create a new golden age of competing options for consumers
In reality, some consumers benefit from the competition while some pay an extra fee for the extra features which are not always that badly needed.
How about some analysis, rather than just complaining? The mobile space still only performs adequately, for the most part, with vertically integrated offerings. Criticizing RIM for poor quality of Zimbra’s email service doesn’t make much sense in this context. I talk with enterprise users of BlackBerry frequently, and despite some difficulties with voice call quality, the consensus is that nothing beats Blackberry for robust push email, not even iPhone. But that assumes you have a solid email deployment, vertically integrated into the Blackberry (or other device).