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| Subject: | Re: MobileLBSList: GIS and Wireless PDAs - MapInfo versus ESRI |
| Date: |
09/19/2000 05:23:35 AM |
| From: |
Alistair Edwardes |
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Neil, Carolyn et al.
Do you think there is a risk of placing too much importance with respect to
LBS in the PDA Market? As the saying goes "All that glisters is not gold".
Whilst all the multimedia extensions may seem superficially tempting - is
this really what the mass market wants? I think there is a strong argument
to say that people want 'handy' devices that are optimised for making phone
calls, with supplementary data features that provide information useful in a
mobile environment. If the supplementary features start to become to
obtrusive to the core function, for example by draining battery power or
increasing the complexity of interaction, then the device is no longer
useful. Of course there are proven niche markets for PDAs, especially in
areas such as forestry and data capture where a GIS in the field is exactly
what is needed. But in comparison to the 1 Billion market that has been
quoted, these are niche markets. Do people really want to carry or even wear
a host of devices communicating via bluetooth? What new useful applications
does this provide? It seems that many people are looking at super PDA phone
hybrids and 2 Mbit 3G as a panacea for LBS, but I'm not sure if mobile GIS
is what the mass market needs. What are needed are simple,effective,
personalised and timely application services which can readily be
implemented with thin clients on more pedestrian technologies.
I hope this isn't too off topic from the original thread!
Regards Alistair
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