Michael Mace wrote a fantastic article about the mobile computing market. If you haven’t read it, you really need to read the entire article. I think he is on the money with his analysis and I quite literally could not have said it better.
BUT
The one thing he said that I disagree with is:
“Information manager [device] innovation has basically ground to a halt, and the users in this space are very frustrated.”
I agree that the users are frustrated. I don’t agree that innovation has ground to a halt. In fact, the information manager’s dream device is already out there.
The UMPC.
I’ve always liked using the Record/Notes option on my Pocket PC to remind myself of something when it’s not handy to type a note — this is especially useful when driving, I just press and hold the Record button and my reminder is saved as an audio file, accessible from the built-in Notes application. The problem is, I often forget to look and see what reminders I’ve saved — D’oh!
Just returned from attending the two day Windows Mobile Partner Summit held in the Seattle area. The summit included OEM, Mobile Operator, and key strategic partners to discuss what’s coming down the road from the Windows Mobile team. We’re under a NDA so I can’t say much about the meeting right now, but I can say that I very much liked what I saw. Stay tuned for more details as we’re allowed to release them. A big thank you to the Windows Mobile Partner team for putting on the event and sharing future plans with us.
With every release of new technology a million so-called experts jump up and start shouting about all the things that are wrong with it. I’m as supportive of critical analysis as the next guy, but I’m also a strong proponent of “appropriate analysis.” Too often people attack new technology from the wrong direction. The iPhone and the UMPC are two great examples of this…