Ramsey, *broadband devices*
...a notebook type device, but would that be too large?...
...nor do I think pdQ would be a big seller...
How popular data becomes as well as the nature of the devices will largely be determined by the carriers in defining the services offered and pricing it attractively.
As far as I'm concerned the killer application is plain old internet access. No, I don't want to surf while driving (although I might if I was often a passenger). But I do want to access the net while I'm standing online at the grocery store, waiting at the quicklube, eating lunch at the local pizza joint, killing time between meetings in a hotel room, getting ready for a race on my sailboat [up to date barometric pressure maps are a real edge in wind prediction], and a host of other times and places IF I can do it without wires or long download times, at reasonable monthly cost, on a device large enough for me to comfortably see what I'm looking at, with input capabilities (voice or manual) that can be easily used, and in a package no more inconvenient to carry around than maybe a pad of paper or a thick magazine.
I am confident the carriers have done their focus group homework. As soon as the speeds are available they will have service offerings and the device makers will be all over it. Remember, Q has been offering that MSM module that can be designed into a laptop or other thingie [to use a SurferMike hi-tech MITism] since last January, I believe.
PDQ is a road warrior's tool, plain and simple, just like the current Palm series. I don't think it will have mass market appeal, but a segment the size of Palm's (3 million devices?) is nothing to scoff at for a company that recently sold its 12 millionth phone. Indeed, the 3G device (and service offering) market is likely to be highly segmented, with products and services matching the specific needs or desires of various consumer and business customers. I want my 'etch-a-sketch' POI (plain old internet) device. You will obviously want something to teach you the fine points of golf and baseball<ggg>.
Beyond these 'human as end-user' devices, the more important 3G market may eventually be the 'machine as end-user' applications eg.. the vending machine that tells the route supplier's inventory server that its time to fill up slot 6 on machine 12345 with twinkies. Machines talking to machines talking to other machines... kind of 2001ish, isn't it?
None of this is going to happen overnight, but it might evolve more rapidly if the speeds were available right now. Just getting above the 56K speeds available on plain copper wire should be enough to jumpstart POI services and device availability.
Sorry so longwinded. Must be coming down with a touch of Mqurice.
Best regards,
Jim |
