I regularly write about what I think will happen in the future, usually with technology and particularly with mobile technology. In January 2006 I was declaring the arrival of the year of the mobile explosion. Well, I can admit it; I was wrong.
I have completely miss-predicted how mobile would take off. For me, the usefulness of mobile devices is about connection speed and GPS. The iPhone has proven that the masses care more about a pretty case and some music. Honestly, I just don’t get it.
Maybe I am turning into an old curmudgeon, but I am going to stick to my guns on this one. That is why I am excited about two announcements I cam across today. Sprint is expanding and accelerating their rollout of WiMax through partnerships and Backberry is working on WiMax capable devices.
Currently, my favorite phone on the market is the Blackberry 8800 series. Add WiMax in addition to EVDO and keep the GPS chip and we are talking about a seriously powerful device. Also consider that memory cards are getting as big as a typical iPod hard drive; we are talking about a phone more powerful than the laptops I had just a few years ago. The amazing part is that Sprint will likely get this first.
I am a little sad that I traded my A900 for a Treo. I am ripe for some GPS action on my phone. I am not just talking about directions. I am talking about location-based social networking, automated location sharing, discovery of things close by that I may be interested in, etc. However, with the Treo I got a keyboard and more useful internet access. With a WiMax Blackberry from Sprint I will be able to have it all (well, except for a touch screen, which is very cool on the iPhone).
Note: I hate being so wrong about the mass appeal of Location Based Services. I am telling myself that it hasn’t really caught on yet because the right demonstration of it’s usefulness has not come along yet.
