Consumers are generally frustrated, for good reason, with some really basic problems with the current state of mobile computing. Miniaturized computing produces way too much complexity, whether it takes the form of Tablet PCs or top-end PDAs. Electronic Day-Timers (entry level PDAs) are popular because they're simple, but they still have data entry problems and take some effort to set up. They also take up precious "carry-around" space that most people would prefer to use for a phone.
But there are a lot of things that people want to do as soon as the technology makes it simple and effective. To name just a few, we see demand forming for light, small, portable and connected devices that are one or more of the following:
- Phone
- Music Player
- Video Player
- Camera
- Photo Album
- Day Planner
- Note Taker
- Ebook Reader
- Document editor (e.g. MS Office documents)
- Presentation Device
- Email and Messaging Tool
- Gaming Device
But let's face it, while the tech geek may be able to do all of the above fairly effectively with some investment of time and money in a top-notch PDA and accessories, there is no device that's ready at the hardware or software level to even accomplish a portion of these things well for the average new user out of the box. Consumers are generally a lot more interested at what they can do well with reasonable effort, not what functions could theoretically be accomplished by a device, so they don't find PDAs as wonderful as the rest of us geeks.
So what could I possibly suggest that will help the situation? And why is it taking so long for products to improve?
Stay tuned to MobileRead for...
Killer PDAs #2 - It's A Crazy Market!, and
Killer PDAs #3 - The PDA You Always Wanted, But Didn't Know It!