Gartner consulting has published a report called
UMPC Has Promise but Is Far From Mature in which they say that it is "unlikely to succeed without key changes, including a lower price and longer battery life."
Gartner is one of the top and most respected IT consulting firms used by businesses. Their opinions, while not perfect, are well researched by experts and have the weight of authority behind them. So it is no small thing to see them come out and give expert opinion supporting our suspicions. Origami is a great idea and some of us will find it useful. But until the price goes down, and the battery life goes up, it's not really going to be a mainstream hit. Three hours battery life is worlds apart from a full day, and prices less than $400 is a whole different market than near $1,000.
Gartner concludes simply that "while the UMPC concept has promise, today's hardware cannot deliver on it." They say we're at least two years away from the sub-$400 devices with 8-hr battery life. Some of the things needed to bring success are: better content bundles, a better interface such as what Vista should bring, better text input options, simpler synchronization, and of course all the benefits that come with mass production in a strong market.
According to Gartner, with today's hardware, what we're really seeing is just the "proof of concept." But I can't help wonder if there might be a significant early market with early adopters, even for these inadequate machines.
Via
GottaBeMobile