The world of mobile devices is changing rapidly as consumers seek to diversify computing over portable gadgets. While desktops have seen an erosion of demand and laptops take the forefront, the question now is, will snazzy new smartphones do the same to laptops?
Even though smartphones have taken the market by storm, traditional uses of laptops are not passé, for precious few mobile phones are geared to multitask at the same level. To achieve a modest level of productivity while on the move, users still prefer to boot up a laptop — whether it is handling big business projects or even typing a long sentence or two in an email.
Experience and mobility
"It's all about user experience and mobility that smartphones offer. But I don't believe laptops will be replaced by smartphones. There are some tasks that a user can perform better on a laptop, such as high-speed typing, editing documents and video and photo editing," said Chandan Mehta, Product Manager, Fujitsu Technology Solutions in Dubai.
Even on the hardware front, laptops go that extra mile, say experts. "Today, laptops have an edge in terms of processing power, battery life, display size and storage," said Ashish Panjabi, Chief Operating Officer at Jacky's Electronics.
Although we now want instant connectivity from anywhere, there are limitations at the moment and few users are willing to sacrifice performance in the name of portability and price. "Smartphones are being utilised more often than laptops specifically because the devices offer faster 3G internet connections, touch-screen capabilities and mobility. However, this change will not happen soon and notebooks will continue to be a reliable source for heavy-duty computing," agrees Ashraf Fawakherji, Head of Mobile Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics in Dubai.
Users purchase any device with specific requirements in mind. Hard-core professionals often work on big documents, large and complicated spreadsheets and multimedia presentations. Few smartphones can meet this kind of demand even though they are indispensable for corporates who turn to their trusty handhelds to access contacts and calendars.
"For executives, laptops and smartphones are complementary in their daily work. Laptops are more reliable for heavy-duty computing and smartphones offer convenient access to applications such as email while on the go," said Fawakherji.
"Laptops and tablet PCs will remain the device of choice for most corporate users. Certain enterprise products such as slates are also gaining momentum in the corporate world. However, smartphones will remain a secondary or tertiary device," believes Mehta.
Laptops definitely score over smartphones when it comes to heavy-duty work, but smartphones are the most favoured for web browsing. Not only do they look cool and slick, they also provide an overall experience that is intuitive, seamless and fun, despite the obvious disadvantage of a small screen. Nor do users have to wait through a long boot up.
However, the almost-always-connected smartphones offer limited browser selection and add-on support hardly exists. Flash is also something most smartphone owners can only yearn for. And chances are that most users won't require 24x7 connectivity or need to browse consistently. In which case, consumers would do best to forgo a smartphone or they might find themselves locked into a long-time contract with mandatory data charges.
Selecting the right portable computing device is not easy given that smartphones have similar capabilities as laptops. However, a fine line exists, which makes it difficult for users to choose a device that would suit their requirements best.
Therefore, even though the mobile computing market has well and truly changed, the basic question that users need to ask themselves before they become proud owners of a mobile device remains the same: "What is the purpose of buying a portable computing device?"
For example, video forms a huge part of portable computing today and if watching video clips, streaming films, rendering movies and images, video editing or 3D modelling form a part of the user's fancy, he/she should simply wear blinkers and buy a top-of-the-range laptop.
After all, there is only so much one can do on a smartphone's small screen. Watching short clips might be fun on a smartphone but staring at the small screen for long durations can only lead to a nasty headache. A full-fledged laptop probably comes with an optical drive that users can use to watch DVDs or even Blu-ray movies. However, the biggest advantage is the high-resolution screen that is easy on the eyes. Good speakers are an added bonus and they are definitely not available on smartphones.
As we move forward, the fine lines that distinguish smartphones from laptops will blur even further and consumers will soon start looking for a reason to carry around two separate devices, when just one can perform functions of both laptops and smartphones with equal ease and convenience. Thankfully, for gadget freaks at least, that's a while away yet.
