One device: smartphone or laptop?

CES_painted.jpg

As the sun set on day two of the 2008 Consumer Electronics show, I want to reflect on some initial thoughts from the first half of the show. To begin with, CES is HUGE. I’ve been here and other large shows in the past, but I’d forgotten how difficult it is just to get around. The scale dominates everything. From Best Buy sized booths spread over at least seven show floors (a reported 1.8 million square feet of exhibits), to large tents with more in the parking lots, to clogged isles, long lines, non-stop conferences and meetings, moving from place to place is an adventure. When it takes nearly 90 minutes to get from one meeting to another, a positive outlook is a must.

Despite, or because of, these challenges, the opportunities to meet and interact with thought leaders is second to none. In the past few days, I have met and heard from senior executives, congressmen, colleagues and even a few celebrities.

Mobility is one of the key themes of this year’s CES. It has risen from a side industry to one of the pillars of the consumer electronics industry.

Laptop or Smartphone?

“Will a smartphone replace your laptop for mobile computing?” This question came up over and over again over the past two days. Without fail, as soon as the question was asked, someone would opine about how a smartphone poor at everything. They’d point out that there are better platforms for email, web browsing, spreadsheets, video editing (???) and even phones. The logic goes that if a laptop is a good platform for email and spreadsheets, why would you want to use anything else?

The same logic came up as part of the CNET The Next Big Thing panel discussion. When asked whether panelists would prefer to have a single, integrated device or to carry separate devices for each function, most said that they’d prefer to carry a camera, an iPod, a phone and a laptop. One even stated that he had a lot of pockets so carrying multiple devices isn’t a problem. The argument goes on to point to the complexities of integrating multiple functions in a single device and that the landscape is littered with failed attempts to consolidate.

It’s the Context

I think these views miss the point. It isn’t whether a laptop is better for email or if a digital SLR is a better camera. Rather the question should be: What is the best device for the task at hand. The laptop might work best when stationary, but the weight, size and limited battery don’t make it a good choice while on the move. A camera on a phone doesn’t need to match the quality of a purpose built device, it just needs to be good enough to be useful. The mobile web browser does have to match a desktop version, but it does need to provide easy access to web resources while on the move.

The context and availability set the bar. My digital camera was of little use to me yesterday sitting in my hotel room, but my iphone was able to capture the images I needed. It was available and while better quality would be nice, it was good enough for web and email use.

While many tended to compare the mobile platforms (laptop, smartphone, pocket PC, etc) against each other, several people embraced the idea that context should drive the features and capability of a device. Leaders from from Nokia, Opera, Erico and Skype stood out as embracing and advancing these concepts. Microsoft also stands out in that their vision of Windows Anywhere is built around the idea of context based capabilities. I’ll talk more about Microsoft’s vision and practice in a later article.

Now off to the “Technologies and Emerging Countries” conference and the keynote by Nicholas Negroponte from One Laptop Per Child, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and others.