Can Today's Mobile Devices Coexist?

I've a fair bit about how those little Netbooks (or ultraportables, or MID's – Mobile Internet Devices – or whatever you want to call them) have been grabbing a good chunk of market share from traditional desktop PC's and laptops these days. We also know how smartphones are slowly but steadily edging mobile phones off the market scene. But can these mobile devices really coexist with each other?

I tend to keep things simple – I'm perfectly happy with a laptop PC and a mobile phone. I can pretty much work wherever I want, and my colleagues can get in touch with me whenever they need to. But now, like most people who keep an eye on developments in mobile technology, I'm constantly pressured to check out the latest smartphone and netbook to see what the buzz is all about. But then I'm tempered by the idea that getting used to another mobile device might be too much of a hassle, particularly if it tends to blur the lines between mobile phones and PC's.

Take the smartphone, for instance – when you ask a dozen people what the word means, you'll probably get a dozen different answers. There's no real definition of the word, although it loosely refers to mobile phones with data capabilities. Okay, I'll take that.

Then we have Netbooks. These little critters usually serve as an entertainment and productivity device, and are generally easier to lug around than laptops. The problem is that newer Netbooks are coming out tied to mobile operators, trying to squeeze some wireless data and voice functionality into them. What does this make them? Yup, smartphones.

Now I'm pretty confident about the future of smartphones by Apple, Blackberry, and Google. Over half of the world's population has a mobile phone, so I doubt they'll go away anytime soon. Netbooks, on the other hand, seem to be headed into the limbo between mobile phones and computers, and I doubt they can coexist with other mobile devices. So digital darwinism has to take place here.

The way I see it, unless Netbooks replace laptops entirely or offer something that other computers can't (and won't), it's going to be looking at very lean pickings down the line. I'm guessing that kind of innovation is going to come from the big players like Apple – though I doubt it has any plans of cannibalizing itself in the process.



Speaking of Apple, they're going to be unveiling a new set of software improvements for the iPhone 3G – and about time, too. Released barely nine months ago, it's already shown signs of obsolescence, following the release of more powerful (albeit less sexy) smartphones. Will we finally be able to copy-paste on the darned thing? We'll see in 48 hours.