Impacting The Future Of Computing

Much earlier, I did write about access to Internet using smartphones and tablets and their being threats to i-café business in our country. I can understand then the denial of my readers from the industry because it was too early in the game when I wrote those articles. But now, the rules of the game are changing. These handheld gadgets are getting smarter and very user-friendly even for those who would not dare learn how to use a computer.

Touchscreens on Apple gadgets (iPhone and iPad), Androids and other media tablets and smartphones on different platforms have liberated users from the hardware keyboard and mouse (pointing device), the two most dreaded things to learn especially by the not-so-young citizens of the world. As tablets and smartphones become more affordable, users will expect the convenience and simplicity of multitouch user interfaces when they interact with these computing devices.

In its news release about the Gartner Special Report “iPad and Beyond: What the Future of Computing Holds”, research analysts examined how the iPad, the first gadget with multitouch feature to become popular, has impacted the computer hardware industry, and how tablets are changing what users will expect out of their computing devices. The report said that multitouch technology has become the de facto interface of high-end smartphones and media tablets, and will extend to additional consumer electronic devices including personal computers.

For many, smartphones and tablets will soon become the gadgets of choice in accessing the Internet. Varied prepaid and postpaid plans of mobile Internet access are now getting offered by the service providers. Using the gadgets, you can easily check and reply to your emails anywhere you can get Internet access signals. Social networking activities are now also easily done anywhere using smartphones and tablets.

There are still some computing jobs that are difficult to do on smartphones and tablets. Word processing, spreadsheet calculations and preparing presentations are some of them but I won’t be surprised if manufacturers would come out with solutions to the difficulties in doing such on smartphones and tablets.

With all the advances in mobile computing technology happening around us, are you prepared to join the bandwagon to the future?