Originally posted by PHGN
With the rise of mobile computing and mobile phones the niche for the PDA seems to be shrinking - Contacts and Calendar functions are now best done on the phone, while small and cheep laptops offer much better capability in terms of higher end use, like word processing or other true 'mobile computing' tasks. That WiFi and Bluetooth are now far more common on laptops than PDAs (especially as integrated of standard issue equipment) is an indication of what's wrong with PDAs; they are still seen as stand alone tools.
Computers are infinitely more useful if you can network them, if only to the internet; it could be argued that the growth of networking is one of the main reasons that fuels the growth of the computer market (how many consumer PCs do you not see advertised as 'internet ready'?).
Mobile Phones are by their very nature 'networked'. But there is a practical limitation on phones - their primary purpose still remains voice and txt communication. You can bolt as many feature on them as you like but consumers must be able to carry them - and not need a rucksack to do so. This limits their size, both in terms of volume available for hardware and area available for user I/O. The latter is perhaps the more crippling handicap. With 20 or so keys and a small LCD there are only so many tasks you can do easily (think back to the pre-T9 predictive text entry days and imagine trying to write a report on the train traveling home! or imagine trying to do it even with T9 on that tiny screen). Modern picture phones are already getting a bit big for comfort, and a bit complicated to use.
So though PDAs may some day incorporate mobiles (and no the other way round - think of the Nokia Communicator - to do a reasonable pass at PDA functionality the device must be large enough to ease user I/O) there will always be a niche for mobile phones, small and simple.
So where does the traditional PDA stand? Well functions like Address book, memos, calendar are all easily (and in some cases better) done on a Mobile especially if it can be sync-d with a proper computer. Which is what PDAs used to be good for.
Now a couple of months ago (When I was looking forward to purchasing a PowerBook - I'm still waiting for the new ones) I was on my way home (a 40' journey at best) facing allot more work to do when I got there. The thought of soon being able to whip out my shinny new PowerBook and get started - not just prepare - was some small comfort, especially when the train ground to a halt (Welcome to the UK). Then it dawned on me - my laptop would be in my bag, which I was almost literally standing on at the time for want of space. There would be no way to bend down and get it out of the bag, let alone use it. A PDA in my coat pocket - yes. But even the very best would not have been capable of letting me start truly productive work.
But my (still) imaginary laptop was at my feet in my bag. Well within Bluetooth and Airport range (both of which it would have). PDA could have both as well, no? 54MB/s is enough to handle user I/O isn't it, on a relatively small touch screen?
You can see where I'm going. A PDA with proper wireless connectivity in proximity to a laptop could be used to access the laptop when practicality prohibits the latters use. Something say 2-3 times the size of an IPod would have ample space for easy use and decent spec; colour touch screen, big battery, Bluetooth and/or Airport, say a 10-15 Gb HDD and a slow speed G3 or better G4.
Out of rage of the Laptop the relatively high spec would allow the device to be used as a bit more than a glorified mobile phone (without the utility of a phone). It could keep a copy of the owners home directory (good for backup and easy sync-ing between say a home desktop and work desktop even if there is no laptop available) and provide enough capability to run a (limited?) version of OSX - maybe even third party applications without much need to port them. Even without 'Pocket-Photoshop' the utilities in OSX are far more useful then the standard PDA. (And as someone else mentioned what the hell is Inkwell for if youve got a keyboard? - Apple is starting to think long term and it fascinating to watch: FCP, Shake, XServe, etc. - they're doing some serious manovering.)
Thinking about usage - the times when you are in a situation where you need to get useful work done but using the laptop may not be practical are usually when you are travelling - to work, to the airport, on the plane etc. i.e. times when the laptop is probably close at hand but 'out of reach'. When the laptops in not nearby but you'd still have the PDA rather than just your Mobile phone, e.g. popping out of the office for a coffee, you probably dont need to do 'high end' tasks; at most you might read a document (using Preview?) or run in to a colleague who wants to check some figures with you (as you've got a copy of you're home directory you'll have all the reports you wrote with you!). And if theres a WiFi access point then the machine is easily capable of proper web browsing - none of this expensive and limited WAP stuff.
What I'm suggesting is a new style PDA - no - not a Personal Digital Assistant, but rather a Laptop Extension / (Basic) Handheld Mac (depending on whether the laptop is in range or not). It's role is not that of a Mobile minus the Phone but rather a Laptop minus the lap. It makes mobile computing practical when you need it most - when its often not.
