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| To Combine or Specialize, that is the question... |
The first thing my wife asked me when I bought my Motorola Xoom Wi-fi three weeks ago was "So, you're going to sell your netbook now, right?" My quick "No" reply was not received well. I explained to her that I wouldn't get any real money for a netbook that's over two years old that only cost me $225 back then. Besides (and more importantly), the thing still works. Earlier this year I turned it into a dual boot machine by loading Ubuntu Linux on it and it's now a very, very capable little machine.
I've always had a problem getting rid of things...I believe it's because I was raised by a step-father who kept all kinds of crap. "You never know when this will come in handy" was his mantra. I kept an Apple iBook for 5 years after the on-board video on the motherboard went bad. I have an old cell phone in the closet complete with all the packaging that I have kept for the last three years as a "backup" phone. Yeah, like I'm really going to go back to a plain phone after having an Evo 4G...
But with Tech gadgets it seems like I have an even harder time of letting go of items, which kinda bothers my logical sensibilities because so many of the newer gadgets are specifically designed to replace several other items. With that, I present my current inventory of techno-gadgetry and my explanation as to why I am so enamored with Specialization.
Inventory:
Apple iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3
Apple iPod Classic 80 GB
Apple iPod Shuffle 4 GB (not shown)
Samsung Netbook N130 Dual boot Windows 7/Ubuntu Linux
Garmin Nuvi 255w GPS
Amazon Kindle Wi-Fi
HTC Evo 4G from Sprint
Motorola Xoom 32 GB Wi-Fi
Fujifilm Finepix J38 12.2 MP Digital Camera (not shown, used for photograph)
Dell 17" laptop Intel Core i7 running Windows XP (not shown, work computer, technically not mine)
As any tech-savvy reader can see, I have many devices that can all do the same thing. I can read Kindle books on my Kindle, my Xoom, my Evo, and either of my computers. I can Skype Video chat on the iMac, my Evo, and the Samsung Netbook (even on Linux) but not on my Xoom...yet. My Evo and Xoom both have GPS with turn by turn navigation...just like my Garmin. And lastly, my Evo has an 8 megapixel camera that takes great pictures...just like my Finepix J38...and shoots 720p High Definition video...just like my Xoom.
So, why not ditch all this crap and have one gadget to rule them all? Arguably the Xoom is a great candidate for the best all in one. But it doesn't have a keyboard. Yes you can buy a bluetooth keyboard and take it with you but if you're gonna do that then why not take a netbook? Most of these things can play music (even the Kindle) but none of them hold as many songs or sound as good as my iPod.
The thing is...I really like Specialization. As cool as my new Xoom is, I'd rather work and type on my netbook. As great as my netbook is at the $225 price point, if I don't need portability I'd rather use my iMac as it's incredibly faster (don't care for the keyboard though...that's for another post). I can read Kindle books on multiple devices, but reading on the Kindle is simply a joy. And although I can use my Evo in the car for navigation, the Garmin is simply better and less distracting...plus it has real time traffic updates.
So you see, many of my favorite technology devices are specially designed to do one thing better above all else. When something works well, is reliable, and is affordable then I don't see any reason to get rid of it. In fact, I wish there was more specialization in the tech marketplace. Why does my Xoom need navigation? Who's going to mount one to their windshield or worse, try to hold the thing while driving? Why does my Evo need a forward facing camera? Up until recently there was only one main-stream app that took advantage of that camera and it wasn't Skype. We don't have the bandwidth in most of our country to support high quality video conferencing via cell networks...and again, I hope no one is going to try a video call while driving a car, so why can't we leave video calling to computers and tablets? A little more specialization could make the products we love better while reducing costs, which would go a long way towards purchasing more gadgets...like the Google Nexus S I have my eye on...
JQ
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