Rugged gadgets go mainstream

NAXOS, GREECE -- One of the welcome and underappreciated trends in consumer electronics in the past two years has been the increasing availability of rugged, semi-rugged and almost-rugged gadgets. In years past, ruggedized laptops and phones were overpriced, dumbed down vertically-focused monstrosities.

Sure, there were a few exceptions. Panasonic Toughbooks have been around for a while. But today you can buy rugged, consumer or general-business notebooks from Dell, HP and a dozen other companies. Even NEC, like a few other rugged notebook vendors, has announced plans to increase sales of rugged devices.

What happened? I remember being frustrated just a few years ago, as every single ruggidized or water-proof device seemed to be yesterday's technology customized for mobile field workers, delivery people or dockworkers.

Today you can buy all kinds of products actually designed for and marketed to adventurous consumers, prosumers and business people who work outside. It's a welcome trend.

On my current two-month "digital nomad" trek through Greece, I've nearly destroyed my laptop several times. My old Dell Latitude D810 (yeah, I know) has been hit with dust storms at grimy island ports, dropped on marble floors and squeezed inside an over-stuffed back-pack. A few weeks ago, I meant to shut it down and pack it away, but I accidentally hit "restart." The laptop remained on for four hours inside my enclosed backpack. It smelled like burning rubber and metal when I took it out, and it was too hot to touch.

My digital camera has taken a beating, too, as has my Kindle, webcam, cell phone and other necessities. None of them is ruggedized, and all have survived so far. But I've been lucky on this trip. If any of my devices went south, I'd be in trouble. I haven't dropped anything from too great a height, nor have I dropped anything in water.

I haven't been so lucky in the past. I've destroyed three digital cameras. I dropped one camera, and it never was able to focus again. Another, I was taking photos in Mexico in the shallow water -- next thing I knew my hand was wrist deep (I still have that last picture: a close-up of a wave). The third camera had a waterproof housing. I was snorkling at Dry Tortugas, and passed the camera to my son by throwing it. I over-shot the throw, and it smashed on the red brick moat wall of Fort Jefferson.

I also tend to be hard on laptops. I type really hard, and have been known to spill hot liquids on unfortunate keyboards. I also tend to overheat laptops because I've always got something like 50 or more browser tabs going, multiple downloads and uploads and other chip-intensive things going on. I don't know whether rugged laptops with high heat tolerances are better protected from internally generated heat or not, but I'd like to find out.

To me, mobility means you're taking your gear with you wherever you go, which can include extreme temperatures, shock, water and other conditions that will break most devices -- conditions that include clumsy, idiot users like me.

After my experience here in Greece, I'm really going to favor devices in the future that are rugged, dust and dirt proof, shock-resistant and water-proof. Why push my luck?

Here's a closer look at what's available in the brand-new world of ruggedized consumer gadgets:

Digital cameras

Laptops

GPS

Cell phones

USB flash drives

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Is it time to go rugged with all our major mobile devices? If not, why not?

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