11
September
2006
|
12:46 PM
America/Los_Angeles

Pre-mashed online suites knock the "P" out of PC

By Tom Foremski for SiliconValleyWatcher


I've noticed lately that I feel more "personal" about my cell phone PDA and its data, than I do about my "personal computer."


I'm quite comfortable to have my email and basic applications such as wordprocessing and publishing reside on my web host's server somewhere out there, or on someone else's server. But I want to keep my cell phone/PDA close to hand, which is not the way I used to feel about my PC and my cell phone--two of the most useful technologies ever created.


Both have added a tremendous amount of value to my life--yet my cell phone PDA (Treo) increasingly feels closer, and more important to me, than my computer (Thinkpad X31).


And I think that personal connection with my cell phone will increase as Google and others, pull together online suites of applications and services. With the recent launch of the beta of Google Calendar (CL2) Google and Yahoo are accumulating many of the key components to build very good online suites. And Microsoft also wants to move its Office suite users online--as soon as it figures out the ad-support business model.


For example, Google will soon be able to offer integrated email, calendar, web publishing, news sources, wordprocessor, maps, search. . . with other services in the pipeline. That's a compelling mix because it will be all pre-mashed, and drag-and-drop/share-or-not (DAD/SON).


And it all lives out in the cloud, and I can access it all from any computer--which makes any PC less of a "personal" computer. But my cell phone/PDA increasingly feels more personal--it is with me 24/7--and I can't simply use someone else's cell phone/PDA and access my phone's data.


As I move more and more of my digital activities out onto the web, my cell phone/PDA grows more personal--but not my computer.


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There is more on this subject on my ZDNet blog.