Thels Talk

Posts Tagged ‘hand held’

Laptop computers now outsell desktops in stores; for the majority of consumers, the smaller devices serve perfectly well as their main computer. That would have been hard to imagine back in the mid-Eighties, when IBM and Apple introduced their first primitive laptops, each weighing in at about twelve pounds.Half of travelling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices in the next five years, an IT research firm said in a forecast of upcoming global industry trends. Research has highlighted 10 key predictions of events and developments that will affect the IT industry and related businesses in 2008.

So there are indeed alternatives to the tiny keyboard. How about the display? Smartphone screens are awfully small compared to a laptop, yet they can’t get much bigger and still fit into a purse or jacket pocket.

The predictions highlight areas where executives and IT professionals need to take action this year so that they can exploit the trends for their competitive advantage.

As users begin to make their own decisions about what technologies to use, they shift industry dynamics. Apple has had a resurgence of its leadership in the innovative delivery of PC technologies. As users grow frustrated with PCs, the Apple model [if not its prices] begins to become extremely attractive again. And although this interest continues, users are now gaining enough functionality in mobile and wireless devices that it may be possible to leave the laptop at home in favour of the ubiquitous handheld device. Even in the home and business, individual technologies are growing in prominence.

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