Myths about business gadgets

Conventional wisdom holds that road warriors will quickly adopt an all-in-one ("converged") handheld device that acts as a phone, e-mail device, organizer, etc. But that's unrealistic, according to In-Stat analyst Bill Hughes.

A recent In-Stat survey of U.S. business people shows that users are willing to juggle multiple devices. They tend to remain loyal to older technology, and employers are reluctant to force the issue, In-Stat reports.

"On the other hand, once a converged device proves to offer additional value and technological obstacles are addressed, adoption progresses relatively quickly," Hughes says. "The smart phone is a successful example of a converged device where a single device combines a PDA computing device and a mobile phone. In this case, the smart phone offers a benefit to the user in the form of real-time data, typically wireless e-mail."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• One positive sign of progress in convergence is that 8% of road warriors (business people who travel frequently) have given up a desk phone to rely solely on their mobile number.
• Before employers can insist that employees use fewer devices, manufacturers need to address battery life and ergonomics issues for portable devices.
• The survey shows that many more users prefer to carry redundant devices than chose to have a single telephone number and a single computing device.

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Source: "Converged Devices: U.S. Road Warriors Start Cord Cutting," In-Stat, Scottsdale, Ariz.

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