GearBits

Forbes: Can Wireless Save PDAs?

Forbes magazine has an interesting story discussing why wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular) may be the only saving grace for what we now know as the PDA.

"So far, handhelds with chips to help users connect wirelessly to the Internet or to their other gadgets are in the minority of handhelds sold. This year, only about 15% of PDAs sold include wireless capabilities; Todd Kort, an analyst at research firm Gartner, predicts that the number will double next year because of the cheaper, more battery-efficient wireless chips on the horizon. Kort predicts that corporate customers wanting to keep their workers wirelessly plugged into the office will help prop up handheld sales for the foreseeable future, though he still doesn't forecast growth for handhelds as a market in general."

While I don't generally give much credibility to most of what the likes of Gartner have to say about things, this is one opinion I agree with. Unwired PDAs are likely to be as high-growth (and high-profit) as bargain calculators are now.

One comment in the article that may perhaps be more contentious was made by Paul Saffo, a research director for the Institute for the Future:

"Even if, as a consumer, you don't care about Palm, you should," said Saffo, the futurist. "Without [PalmOne], we're all marching lockstep with AT&T and Microsoft. As consumers, I think we should all buy a Palm even if we don't use it -- just to keep the diversity out there."

So, is wireless the life extending technology for PDAs, or can something else do it? Or, are we likely to see them die out regardless in a few years?