ECOmmerce

ECOmmerce: Leveraging Electronic Commerce for Global Ecological Benefit

What Are You Carrying In Your Briefcase?

The feature article in the Technology section of the Wall Street Journal – www.wsj.com - dated Monday, October 27, 2008, pointed to a growing trend in mobile commerce. The focus of the article was, “Why It May Be Time To - Leave the Laptop Behind." Since many of us have been shouldering or rolling one of these five pounds devices around for many years now, it is a welcome evolution in the technology. So, with the emerging functionality and usability, smart phones are beginning to replace laptops for mobile workers much as laptops replaced desktop computers.

What Is Hype and What Is Real?

Let us start with a definition of what is a smart phone, and then look at a few numbers to get us grounded in where people and companies are putting their money. Basically, smart phones are the next generation of the cell phones that many folks use today. These new, sophisticated wireless devices offer increased portability, have Internet functions including e-mail, and operate on new wireless 3G networks that offer faster Internet connections. Now, what about the actual migration to the new smart phones? Following is a limited set of data on the number of units shipped (in millions) on a global basis over the past three years:

Year Smart Phones Laptop Computers

2006 ~ 80M ~ 78M
2007 ~ 120M ~ 100M
2008 ~ 160M ~ 135M

One can quickly see a growing trend in wanting to travel light while still being able to conduct business and communicate as needed using wireless technology.

Who Is Producing These Products and Applications?

A few of the companies and products in this space are: Apple, Inc.’s iPhone, Research In Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry, and Palm, Inc. who pioneered the market with Treo. One of the innovations that helped accelerate the smart phone market is “software as a service.” This service allows smart phone users to access software via the Internet using a smart phone interface. A couple of companies with good application success in this arena are Netsuite and Salesforce.com, Inc. These companies store sensitive business information, such as, inventory and accounting data and make it accessible over the Internet.

So, Is This The End Of the Laptop?

This is the beginning of a trend, not the end of the laptop. Although smart phones are making inroads into the mobile market, all is not lost for laptops. For example, PowerPoint presentations for client meetings are still best delivered via a laptop, smart phone keyboards are not easy for all to use, and data on spreadsheets can easily be misread on those small screens. Yes, definitely a trend and, yes, definitely a merging of the medium is in progress. Laptops are getting smaller and smart phone are getting larger. Get connected and stay tuned.

Going Forward

Once again, I am most interested in hearing your thoughts on how we can create a future that furthers commerce in innovative ways and is environmentally sustainable.


ECOmmerce4w