Convergence, mobility and the green size of mobile devices

Yes, we all know the term. Convergence. Its almost a buzzword nowadays. Especially in our little N95 community. Still what does it really mean, what does it do for me and is it really useful?

Convergence

Convergent evolution pertains to organisms not closely related that independently acquire similar characteristics while evolving in separate and sometimes varying ecosystems [from Wikipedia].

So it means that mobile electronic gadgets tend to get overlapping features and evolve into similar devices with similar features. In example a modern car-GPS has voice-navigation, music and video capabilities, a sim-card for calling and for getting the latest traffic information. E-mail and web browsing are already on the doorstep. And in the future it will even sport a photo- and video-camera to capture proof of car accidents. It will retrieve your PIM information to automagically plan routing to and from appointments, it might even tell you to leave early because of traffic congestions and reserve your ferry tickets. From there on it will become an digital personal assistent. Now, that is what I think of when I think of my smart phone. A kind of device that does anything technological possible for it's size and available power. A bit of magic, an electronic wand with smarts. Mobile phone companies are ahead in this game and Steve Jobs wisely took that plunge and got in the game. Nokia and Apple are going one on one. Microsoft has Windows Mobile but it could never give me the smooth and flexible feel and stability of Symbian which feels a bit like peanut butter without any nasty nut chunks, let alone the reported euforia from OS-X on the iPhone ;-)

Size and mobility

Size and mobility are truly connected. Size truly determines the mobility of the device as it limits your mobility as a user. The smaller and unobtrusive a device the more occasions there are in which you can carry it with you. The smaller the device the more time-consuming the user interface becomes I.e. T9-pad versus mini-qwerty versus a full-sized keyboard. And with size limits there are also power limits. Battery size is finite. Which is not a bad thing.

You see, ever since the 90's there was no need for additional CPU power to do PIM, browse the internet and run a full fledged office software. Already the cpu-capacity of a modern digital watch out performs the computer that took us to the moon. Intelligent software and smart algorithms do just fine. Limits on size for mobility of devices is causing an evolution in usability (ease of use) and power efficient designs. And happy earth, that makes it green! Super green in fact! Whenever I read my e-mail with my phone I use less than 1 Watt compared to the 200 Watt my desktop PC consumes when active.

Technological evolution?

Users will look for maximum convergence and minimal size in their mobile devices. They will also look for flexibility in extending the possibilities of those mobile device capacities in less mobile environments. A bluetooth keyboard, tv-out, A2DP to the car's stereo are simple examples. Mobility will turn the stupid trend to put a desktop computers power and powerconsumption into your phone. Simply because a more mobile, more power-efficient, more user-intelligent and integrated device will fullfill a consumers needs better.

The drive for towards better mobile device designs in usability (ease of use) and power efficiency will also help the limping UMPC platform and make them more mainstream. MIMD as a organizer/UMPC hybrid are getting even more interesting. 64kB of RAM is not enough for everyone, but I think 128MB of RAM and 400 MHz might be sufficient for anywhere. At least for the next couple of years. Mobility is here to stay and will become mainstream for personal use. Desktops will always be faster and bigger en more power-consuming that a mobile device. And the time will come when they are considered the gas-guzzling polluting devices they are for personal use. Like a truck a desktop's PC capacity will only be needed for professional heavy work instead of home computing.

And I think it's a good thing. Go green, go mobile!