Between 1997 and 2002, cell phones kept getting smaller, cheaper, and better; by the turn of the century they offered good enough coverage and call quality that you could use them pretty much anywhere. Getting a cell phone typically required a commitment of at least several hundred dollars a year, so it was by no means cheap. The big reason for being buying cell phones then was the network effect. At some point there were enough mobile phones that the cultural attitudes about the device flipped. People stopped thinking you were a self-important schmuck if you carried a mobile phone. You were a self-important schmuck if you didn’t.
There are a variety of devices quenching our technology-thirst today. Now imagine it’s 2016. Which gadgets are you taking along on your morning commute?
I’m betting on the smartphone and the tablet—in other words, you’ll carry a small computer for your pocket and a bigger one for your purse or backpack.
At the moment, the laptop (which we can define as a portable computer with a keyboard and a traditional PC operating system) has a couple major advantages over the tablet (a keyboardless, touch-screen gadget with a mobile OS). The laptop has more processing power, and it’s got a keyboard and pointing device that allow for faster text entry and application switching. This makes it an ideal computer for office productivity.
But the laptop has several disadvantages, too. The increased power comes at the cost of battery life (no laptop can match the 10 hours the iPad lasts on a single charge), and the keyboard, pointing device, and user interface make it less well-suited to tasks that go beyond productivity apps. It’s easier and more comfortable to surf the Web, read long articles, play games, and interact with media on a tablet than on a laptop. These might not sound like “important” tasks, but important isn’t what sells mobile gadgets. Fun does.
