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WIRELESS FUTURES
by
Frank Zammataro
Frank Zammataro is chief marketing and strategy
officer of w-Technologies, Inc., overseeing the
company’s global market strategy, product
management, and business development activities.
Previously, Frank spent more than 20 years with
Merrill Lynch, most recently as head of its
e-Investments and e-Alliances, where he maintained
overall responsibility for the organization’s
Internet-related strategic alliances, investments,
and portal relationships.
@
frankz@w-technologies.com
WU MC WP WE CRM WO II WVC WR WS WA WF MI DJ
From Mobile Computing
to Holistic Computing
Smart mobile devices serve as life-management systems
What do former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, Toronto Blue Jays’
first baseman Carlos Delgado, and radio personality Howard Stern
have in common? They’re all addicted to their PDAs. The ever-growing
need to manage more and more information in less and less time, both
workwise and socially, could have you depending on yours, too.
i
n June, a private day
school outside
Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, became the
first K–12 school in the United
States to require the use of
wireless PDAs by its high school
students. In January, Santa
Clara, California’s, police
department became the first to
use wireless PDAs out on the
beat to cut down on the time
and paper involved in writing
and filing tickets, accident
reports, and other routine matters.
In May, New York City
police officers followed suit,
adopting wireless PDAs to
check for outstanding warrants
and stolen cars. In a recent USA
Today article, the BlackBerry
wireless PDA was described as
the “CrackBerry” in reference to
its addictive qualities, which
have reportedly hooked such
users as former Baywatch star
Pamela Anderson, Toronto Blue
Jays’ first baseman Carlos
Delgado, and radio personality
Howard Stern.
Predicting the Future
with Pants?
Clearly, handheld wireless
devices have begun to outgrow
their monikers. No longer just
organizational assistants to
techno-geeks and harried executives,
today’s devices are
becoming critical life- and
work-management tools
for a wide variety of users.
In helping students to
manage their education, or
law enforcement to manage
their professional
activities, handheld
mobile devices are
graduating from
indulgent gadgetry to
essential appliances.
This evolution can
be underscored by
Levi Strauss &
Co.’s recent
launch of a new
line of Dockers
pants specially
outfitted with a
“mobile device”
pocket. While a pair of
pants might seem an odd harbinger
of a new lifestyle trend,
the simple fact that Levi’s has
taken the pants designed for
“everyman,” and tailored them
to accommodate a mobile
device, indicates that they
expect these tools to become as
essential to everyday life as the
wallet.
The Emergence of
Holistic Computing
Though PDAs, cell phones,
and other portable wireless
tools have been around for
years, their transformation into
true life-management systems
has only just begun, enabled by
a combination of business,
social, and technological forces
that are converging to push the
demand for, and development
of, smart mobile devices, networks,
and enterprises.
Ultimately, these market drivers
will foster the emergence of a
new, personalized, ubiquitous
mobile computing model that
can only be described as
holistic computing.
The two primary business
market forces that
are pushing holistic
computing forward
are: the ever-present
need to increase productivity
in the workplace
and the need to
accommodate an
increasingly global,
mobile, and temporary
workforce.
Social and cultural
forces are more subtle,
but include the
necessity of managing
greater amounts of
information in shorter
spells of time, the desire to
streamline personal and work
activities, and – most significant
– the need to stay in constant
contact with family members
and loved ones throughout the
hectic workday.
It’s LANs, WANs and,
Man Oh Man, GANs
While the business and
social forces are certainly having
a significant impact, it’s the
technological drivers that are
really pushing the mobile computing
revolution into high gear.
The proliferation of broadband
networks, the development of
WAP, the introduction of the
short-distance wireless technol-
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