Do we need laptops?

COMMUNICATION

Spent a week in stunning Udaipur (Liz and Arun were in Jaipur at the same time) armed as always with sufficient clothes, toiletries and of course my laptop and mobile phone. So, while I was away from work physically, I would, like always, stay connected virtually. Thanks to a data card on my laptop which would ensure 24-hour connectivity.

So I thought. The data card would not work because the signals were weak or non-existent, at least where I was staying. I tried using my mobile GPRS (hooked via Bluetooth to the laptop). It worked, sometimes. Mostly not. I gave up and gave in, to the hotel's extortionate Wi Fi network.

I then looked to see whether I had company in my disconnected misery. Not quite. Almost all my friends and delegates attending the seminar were carrying BlackBerrys. Except for one or two, most of the BlackBerry junta did not even bring their laptops along. Or did not feel the need to reach for them, except maybe at the end of the day.

Turned out their only desire to use a computer and the internet was to access email. Which their trusted BlackBerries were doing all the time, silently `pulling' mails from ether as we sat around tables and debated the relevance of Plato and Aristotle, yes the real guys. And because the BlackBerrys were running on the GSM mobile phone network, connectivity was superior, at least better than my CDMA based data card. Yes, one delegate did fish out a sophisticated Apple Mac Book once. Only to play a graphically enticing chess game.

All of this made me wonder, are the laptop's days somewhat numbered ? I would think yes. Reason one being the email argument. Reason two being that there are other small technology solutions to transport data physically or virtually. There are people I know who would rather carry a powerpoint presentation on a pen drive and open it up at the destination. Anyway, the focus here is reason one.

Further, I believe that the BlackBerry (as a device or a concept), because it rides on the efficient GSM network, has actually caused a small consumer preference jump in countries like India. As in if my primary interest in a laptop was to access mails while travelling, this device allows me to skip the laptop phase, quite neatly.

Obviously not everyone only uses laptops for emails. Many work on their Powerpoint presentations while travelling. Or maybe pore over spreadsheets. Others like me may want to surf aimlessly or catch up with the news. Or, like my friend, figure out new techniques to beat the computer at chess.

This is not about numbers but sales of smartphones (and Blackberry phones or phones powered by Blackberry like features) have grown something like 70% in the last quarter. Overall sales for BlackBerry and its parent Research In Motion have done pretty well too, up 49% in value (profits up 42%) for the quarter ended November 2006, over the previous year. RIM is in some accounting trouble though.

So more and more people are connecting to the web and accessing mails via their mobile phones. Maybe they are not discarding their laptops but surely using them for lesser periods, as I found. As for me, my position was that I would not carry a BlackBerry or a device so enabled because of the feeling of being over connected and so on. While I actually carried a 3 kg laptop all the time, I think the point that strikes is that the time has come to revisit the matter. For weighty reasons, if nothing else

govindraj@business-standard.com