Take a moment to think about this…
- How many gadgets or devices do you have, disregarding their portability?
- Of these devices, how many do use on a daily basis?
- And finally, of these devices, how many to you have on or with you right now?
How do your answers compare to mine?
- In no particular order:
- Nokia e65
- Apple iPod (60 GB)
- Home PC
- Work PC
- PSP
- Xbox 360
- Nintendo Wii
- PS3
- Laptop
What does that list say to you? (Aside from the fact that I should really, really get out more)
- On a daily basis, I'm likely to use my e65, Home & Work PCs, and any one of the games consoles (if I'm not in the mood for a spot of PC gaming) when I get home from work.
My PSP is used on a daily basis to watch various clips by my partner, and the laptop is rarely, if ever, turned on. - At this second I have my Work PC, and my e65 to hand
What am I getting at here?
Well, as you've no doubt already gathered, I'm a nerd and proud of it (I could easily have added my partner's iPhone to the list of devices above, but as I don't use it, I'll just mention it here as an aside) and as a result I simply cannot function on a daily basis without some form of communications technology.
Without my phone, I can't be contacted, or contact someone else – something that I simply cannot abide by (how did I ever survive as a teenager without one?! 🙂 )
Without my iPod/PSP/device-of-choice I can't enjoy listening to my favorite tunes while I trundle down a motorway – radios just don't cut it anymore, I don't like advertisements.
And without access to a PC, well, let me (kind of) quote the immortal Homer Simpson: "No PC & no internet make Daniel go crazy…"
Get to the point …
Again, I hear you cry, what on earth am I talking about?
Well, I'm talking about mobile internet. What would you do with a single device that did (almost) everything you needed on a daily basis? My current mobile phone is wonderful – and takes care of all of my calendar and communication needs, not to mention also looking quite swish in the process. The main limitation is that it doesn't have all that much in the way of expandability.
I could quite easily upgrade to an iPhone, and let that take care of all of my worries (including integration with an online calendar that I could alter from my PCs), while also making my PSP, iPod and possibly even my Home PC redundant (mainly used for email and forum browsing nowadays)
A single, mobile, handheld device?
I love the idea that a single device can make my life easier, replacing 3-4 of my current ones. I love the fact that, with a little bit of WiFi tom-foolery I can use any WiFi enabled device to control various aspects of my home (everything from dimming lights, to controlling playlists at a party). I also love the idea of a truely always on internet connection, which would make using a multi-purpose device such as the iPhone, or n95 for that matter, a no-brainer.
Why only WiFi?
But, and here is where I'm going with this post, why should that be restricted to WiFi? As Ronan blogged a while ago, and Ruadhan followed up on, data prices in Ireland were once stifling, but are improving. They're not quite there yet (especially from the point of view of a pre-pay customer) but are improving nonetheless.
With endless possibilities for remote-home-control, better calendar integrations, always-accessible mail solutions and everything else that comes with an always-on connection in your hand it really is easy to see how important the mobile world is.
Disclaimer 🙂
This isn't an advertisement for an iPhone, but if it can do all of what I want in a mobile device, in a slick and easy to use way, I get the feeling that its the one for me.
What makes your mobile brain tick?
