Aug 11
9
Two recent articles on Tech Republic have led me to thinking about a topic that’s been discussed a couple of times on Oz Mac User.
The first article is about the convergence of mobile devices and PCs. In essence I get the impression what is being eluded to here is docking smaller devices so they become bigger, desktop devices.
The second article explores the possibility of Microsoft pursuing this as their next big move to dominate Apple and Android. Realistically, it’s unlikely Microsoft will pursue this avenue, but they are the sort of company that have previously grabbed the wrong end of the bull with emerging trends and suffered the consequence.
One of the biggest issues is devices that are not one thing nor the other. They become bulky and bloated trying to be a PC with USB ports, video out etc. They usually tend to be underpowered trying to strike that balance between battery life and performance.
The faster newer processors are solving some of the performance issues. The big question is around portability.
Looking at the direction Apple are going, I doubt any converged device will be docked. Airplay illustrates how you can wirelessly stream content to your big screen TV. The Apple BT keyboard illustrates how you turn your iPad into a pseudo notebook.
Perhaps the big blockers are file management and “full blown” browser. The two things that turn me to my MBA when I’m using the iPad is needing to look up an old email, needing to retrieve a file, or accessing a web site mobile safari won’t render correctly.
At a software level, the first barrier to be removed on tablets is mobile sites. The second in Apple’s case is hiding the file system. These things make some sense on a phone, but not on a tablet.
To the delight of PC users, the Toshiba AT100 tablet ticks many boxes for them. It’s around $500, has USB ports and memory expansion. It runs the tablet version of Android, 3.0, upgradable to 3.1. Unfortunately, in my view, the world has moved on from plugging things in. I certainly have. I honestly don’t want to be carrying around a bag full of peripherals.
Perhaps the biggest convergence challenge is that of the smart phone and tablet. One or the other is eventually going to have enough processing power to satisfy most people processing wise. So long as more and more of what we do moves to the cloud, storage isn’t so big a problem.
The key difference between tablet and phone is screen size. Perhaps when they develop a smart phone that can project a full size screen onto the wall, and the touch surface becomes a trackpad, all the problems will be solved. Add in a BT keyboard and you have the near perfect converged device.
If anyone actually produces such a thing, remember you heard it here first. Time to rush off to the patent office?