Rise of the Smartphones

You know, the day is coming when generic cell phones will become obsolete. You have seen them, you have owned them, the models made by LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Motorola. Flip or non flip it does not matter, these phones are losing steam. They are still out there, but they are losing market share to the Blackberries, and Windows Mobile type devices that are out there. The features that these smartphones bring to us make everyday life so much easier.

Let me give a couple of examples. I went to Las Vegas this weekend to meet some friends. I did not even have to bring my laptop in this case. On the way there in the airport I was still replying to e-mail that I had received at the end of the week. I went online several times over the weekend. I went to google.com from my browser inside the Blackberry to get restaurant info/make reservations/directions/mapping. Texting is also so much easier with a full qwerty keyboard. I even went to Southwest.com to do an advanced check in to reserve my seats on the way home. These are features that can be performed on regular phones, but it is very cumbersome to do so.

Smartphone market share is pushing 50% of the prosumer (professional) market. That figure seemed very accurate from my observations in Las Vegas. The everyday features are well worth the extra data plan fees to operate the smartphones.

Welcome to the Future!

Mike