Archive → September, 2010
The myth of mobility
Lately I’ve been considering the reality of mobile computing.
As someone who spends in excess of 10 hours per week commuting between Glasgow and Edinburgh, I’m very interested in the possibilities for the productive use of this time.
Indeed, I’m composing this post on an HTC Legend, an Android phone using a WordPress app. This enables me to write blog posts, moderate comments etc on the move.
This is great but is not reflective of all mobile ‘apps’. The wonderful work of the marketing depts of smartphone manufacturers would have you believe that pretty much anything that can be achieved with a desktop computer can now happen ‘on-the-move’ with the simple use of an ‘app’. We’ve all seen those iphone ads on the telly where the subtitle says ‘sequence shortened’, as it shows some task like booking flights happen over a period of seconds.
Not real. My experience of mobility is of weak (or no) mobile signal – far less a 3g one, poor battery life, and the limitations of typing on a touch screen.
Ok, rant over. Any similar/different experiences?
