One for each hand seems to the limit on number of devices executives are willing to put up with. At the Reuters Global Technology Summit, executives from well-known companies indicated that out of the office, they don’t want to be bothered carrying several devices around.
Rich Templeton of Texas Instruments, talking about mobile internet devices, led the way saying: If it becomes a third device you have to carry, I don’t know how that’s a greater benefit.
Everyone is craving the ultimate multi purpose, multi media, entertainment, business device. Smartphones, like the iPhone or RIM’s Blackberry, are a step in the right direction. Netbooks are vying for a place in the same category. Will there ever be an end-all, be-all, solution to lighten our load of gadgets?
Ralph de la Vega, head of AT&T’s mobile business, suggests that we aren’t there yet: We have been saying integrated devices forever, and people still carry two devices. And he wonders, if we get there, will people be willing to pay heavy monthly service fees for the connections and calling plans they covet?
Not only did the leaders of the technology industry not want to be weighted down with several PDA’s, cell phones, laptops, or netbooks, but they actually wanted to get away and do something less, well shall we say, “techie”? Hobbies and relaxation were on their minds.
A heretic for sure, Eli Harari, chief executive of SanDisk, said: I’m not actually a gadget freak. And I’m not a computer freak. I’m a physicist. I love technology. But I don’t like gadgets. I rarely use my notebook PC. Most of the high wheelers at the Summit admitted they depend on their mobile phone, but that’s all they carry. Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, said he would drive back home to retrieve his iPhone if he forgot it.
Hobbies take precedence when away from the office, but you can’t get away from technology completely. Ralph de la Vega loves fishing, and to brag about his prize catch, what does he do? Whips out his iPhone to display a snapshot of the fish that didn’t get away.
John Chen, CEO of Sybase, declared: “I like to get away from electronics.” His refuge is the printed page, yep - a book, but says: “I can’t stand Kindle. It’s not an Amazon issue — I like the feel of a book. Fishing, and a good book, ah, civilization is alive and well.