March 01, 2004
MiniPC's = Death to Handhelds and Smartphones?
Rohdesign has a blog post offering an interesting concept: miniature, pocketable full-fledged PCs will out-evolve today's PDAs and smart phones and replace them.
"I think that all of today's 'super-duper mobile devices' have a core flaw: they use a different OS than the one users are used to from their desktop PCs. Whether that OS is Symbian, Palm Cobalt or Pocket PC doesn't matter."
I've long believed that Pocket PC's days were numbered since we're getting close to being able to cram full Windows XP into that form factor. My personal belief is that the PC will eventually go away and be replaced by lots of smart (by today's standards) devices better designed for specific subsets of tasks/functions.
Posted by Craig | Permalink | TrackBackAlthough I like the mini-pcs, I don't know that they will ever take the place of PDAs. I think they will have their nitch, just like TabletPCs, but I think trying to cram a PC experience into a handheld device just doesn't work. PocketPC proved that IMNSHO. :)
I do see the concept of the PC changing and that more "smart" devices will take the place of what we rely on a standard PC though. Maybe the mini-pc will be part of that, I don't know.
The key factor to me is that whatever the device is, it has to get the "experience" right. The Treo 600 nailed it for the SmartPhone, Palm OS generally has it right for the PDA and iPod nailed it for the mobile music device. Hey lookie there - there's already some mildly smart devices that are doing just what you suggest Craig!
Posted by mashby at March 1, 2004 08:37 PMTo leave a comment or read updated entries, please visit GearBits' current site. Thanks.