Creating a New Competitive Edge: The Mobile Office

1
Creating a New Competitive EdgeThe Mobile
Office

• Steve Wildstrom
• Technology You columnist
• steve_wildstrom_at_businessweek.com

2
Keeping in Touch is Critical

• WorkCommunications
• For voice, your office can be wherever you are
• Soon the same will be true for data. But at what
  price?

3
The Cost of Mobility Has Plunged

• You can get a laptop for as little as 1,000,
  quite a good one for 1,500, and a highly mobile
  one for 2,000.
• Depending on your needs, you may not need a
  laptop.
• Mobility, especially in terms of communication,
  is getting dramatically easier.

4
Mobile Data Had Been Problematic

• Slow, sometimes hard-to-find, dial-up
• Expensive and even slower wireless
• Ricochet, RIP

5
Networks Get Much Better

• Moving from wireless dial-up to wireless
  always on.
• GPRS (VoiceStream, Cingular, ATT)
• 1X RTT (Verizon, Sprint)
• Speeds typically 30-50 kilobits/sec., comparable
  to dialup.

6
An Integrated Tomorrow

• Because networks are in such flux, the first use
  of the new networks will be a phone linked to a
  laptop or handheld by cable or infrared. But more
  convenient integrated devices are on the way.
  Compaq may be on to something.

7
Cost Is an Issue

• VoiceStream iStream Add-on Plans
  Smartphone2.99 per month1 Megabyte (MB)
  (about 500 phone screen pages)300 Ping Pong
  text messagesGet access to information on your
  phone.10.00 per additional MBThis is a
  phone-only rate plan. PDA  (Windows-CE based
  Pocket PC)19.99 per month5 Megabytes (MB)
  (about 90 web pages or 850 e-mails)300 Ping
  Pong text messagesConnect your phone to your
  Windows CE-based PDA.5.00 per additional MB
  Laptop39.99 per month10 Megabytes (MB) (about
  180 web pages or 1,700 e-mails)300 Ping Pong
  text messagesConnect your phone to your laptop
  or Windows CE-based PDA.4.00 per additional MB
   
• Any Device10.00 per MBRoaming outside of
  the iStream network.

8
A Flat-rate Future?

• Right now, carriers are scared of flat-rate
  data service because they dont know how to price
  it. As they gain experience with usage, data
  pricing will likely follow voice to de facto
  flat-rate pricing.

9
The WLAN Alternative

• Wireless Ethernet was designed for
  in-building or campus private networks. But
  people are figuring out how to make it work in
  public places. Significant technical and
  business-model challenged remain, but it is
  potentially very important in urban cores.

10
Do You Need a Laptop?

• Content access vs. content creation
• Ease of use vs. bulk
• Cost considerations

11
Palm or Pocket PC?

• Palm
• Simpler, more user friendly
• Cheaper
• Longer battery life
• Integrated voice available today
• Always-on wireless option
• Limited display abilities

• Pocket PC
• More versatile but more complex
• Better integration with desktop
• Much better networking options
• Higher resolution displays

12
The Bottom Line

• Wireless communications means your office can be
  wherever you are
• Technology is getting simpler and cheaper
• More capable handhelds let you leave the laptop
  in the office.