I’ve been thinking a lot about the mobile internet recently. Mainly because I finally caved and bought myself a smart phone. As big a gadget freak as I am, the cost of data plans was off-putting. Now that I have a Droid Eris though I’m loving the experience of having my data available to me wherever and whenever.
- The Current Face of Mobile – Image via Wikipedia
At this point there really can’t be a doubt in anyone’s mind that mobile is the future of the internet. The real question is what form factor does mobile come in?
Right now it comes in three main flavors: Smartphones like the iPhone or Android; Netbooks; or WiFi connected pocket devices like the iPod Touch or Nokia’s N810. A fourth format is slowly emerging in the form of tablet’s like the iPad.
But all of these formats have limitations and problems. Phones are too small for heavy text entry and while perfect as an “everywhere” device their small screens are less than ideal for reading or watching. Netbook’s are perfect for data entry and reasonably portable. But they aren’t good for reading books, nor for making private phone calls. They are also a little inconvenient when you’re out on a walk. The iPod Touch isn’t much use if you’re outside the range of a Wi-Fi signal etc. etc.
The future is mobile, but mobile is not going to look like any of the devices we currently have. That much is clear. But what will they look like?
Personally I think there has been far too much focus on creating a single device that will do everything. But that’s not going to work. You can’t optimize a device to do everything. Instead we need to approach the problem from a different angle.
There are two reasons to want a single device. The first is so that you have access to all your data no matter where you are and the second is because carrying multiple items is a nuisance. They take up space. They weigh you down.
Data access is partially solved by the evolution of Cloud Computing which will make most or perhaps all of your data accessible from any internet connection. But you need a guaranteed connection if you’re going to rely on that. It would be better and faster to combine your cloud data with a local cache that gets synched in the background (as many smart phones do currently).
The bigger problem is need different form factors to achieve different goals. But I think there’s actually a simple solution. Separate processing and storage from input and display. Picture a device about the size of a thumb drive that contains Wi-Fi, 3G (or 4G), a CPU and solid state storage. It weighs almost nothing and fits in any pocket. Need to check stuff on the move? Plug it in to a slimline mobile phone (contains the mike, speaker and screen but not much else). Need to write a blog post from your hotel? Plug in to the dumb terminal in your room and off you go. Sitting at home and want to watch some video. Plug into your tablet.
A single device means paying for a single data connection (instead of the current arrangement where you pay for internet twice or three times). You have a local copy of your data just in case you are in a dead zone. And of course it’s light weight so it eliminates most of the problems of carrying multiple devices.
So what do you think? How would you re-invent the mobile experience?
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