They began as personal organizers and expanded into the Internet and wireless worlds to give users greater access to information.
By Mary E. Shacklett
Published: September, 2006
They began as personal organizers and expanded into the Internet and wireless worlds to give users greater access to information. Now, PDAs (personal digital assistants) are once again being redefined in response to business and consumer demands.
In business, traditionally resistant groups, like physicians, are increasingly using PDAs to access medical treatment and drug information. Commercial software now enables medical practitioners to cross-reference information from different medical texts on their PDAs and to research the symptoms of a disease as well as the drugs used to treat it.
On the consumer side, PDA use has continued to expand to where it can capitalize on lifestyle needs that revolve around continuous Internet access and voice and email capability.
These PDA applications are easy to use. This does not mean that PDAs are thriving on every front of activity.
For example, PDA sales have fallen for PDA devices that are primarily data organizer devices. The trend has prompted companies like Hewlett-Packard to forecast that the traditional pen-based PDA market will evaporate within the next four years without significant product innovation.
HP and others in the technology sector are doing what they have always done, reinventing the PDA by adapting it to emerging uses that are being embraced day-after-day in the business and consumer markets.
These markets confirm that hand-held devices like PDAs will be most successful if they converge with smart phone devices that allow users - whether they are commercial or consumer - to combine telephony and Internet for consistent, reliable and secure communications that can connect them wherever they are, at any hour, to any person or system.
Accordingly, HP and others are building smart phone/PDA lineups with push-email capabilities and a spectrum of products that range from data-intensive to entertainment-focused devices with multi-media features like built-in cameras, FM tuners, MP3 playback software and dual stereo speakers.
At the same time, Apple’s iLife (Internet Life) comes bundled with the Macintosh and features a collection of software running under Mac OS X that creates, organizes, views and manipulates digital content. The iLife product suite has six components: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand (a music authoring package that allows amateurs to create their own music).
While this is going on, the telecommunications industry is transforming itself with Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) initiatives that will make it a reality in the next few years to use one device like a computer, a PDA or a smartphone, to morph in and out of both wireless and wireline networks as the user moves from place to place. The end result is: wireless flexibility with the quality of wireline communications when and where wireline is available — in a manner that will be seamless to the user. The technology is already here. The remaining hurdles are how the service will be offered and provisioned — and who (in a mixed world of wireless and wireline carriers) will own the customer.
So what does this mean to you if you are a PDA user, or if you are considering purchasing a PDA?
• PDAs are shifting to an Internet- centric focus and away from being personal data organizers and substitutes for notebook computers. Within this strategy, the functionality most desired by the commercial and consumer markets are voice, email and Internet access.
• Businesses have specific data needs for field service technicians (e.g., being able to pull up a schematic of a machine being repaired in the field) and product quotation and pricing software for sales. If you are considering purchasing or upgrading your PDA, here are several suggestions:
• Before purchasing, make a list of the needs you want the device to meet. Are you looking for a business communications device, an entertainment device, a personal communications device, or a combination? Do you plan to use the device for all of your communications, or just while traveling?
• Obtain a PDA with as much built-in flexibility for the future as possible. In the past, cellphones and PDAs had lifespans under one year. Today, those lifespans have extended to 12-18 months.
• Think about security. Most PDAs come with automatic data encryption. Find out how the data encryption on your device works, and if it meets your security needs — because many PDAs get lost or stolen.
• Practice safe use of your PDA. Avoid using it while driving. When you are using it in unfamiliar surroundings, maintain awareness of your surroundings while you are working with your PDA.
• Don’t forget the practical things. Battery life is very important. Also check on the manufacturer warranty, service center availability and pricing for hardware and service plans.
Mary E. Shacklett is President of Transworld Data, a marketing and technology practice specializing in marketing, public relations and product management for technology companies and organizations. Mary is listed in Who’s Who Worldwide and Who’s Who in the Computer Industry. She may be reached at (360) 956-9536 or TWD_Transworld@msn.com.
