> But not many. In fact very few. I can't find the research > I'm remembering but most handheld device users don't USE > a browser. Most handheld devices aren't connected. Out of > those that ARE most are email-only (RIM devices like > Blackberry) and most others are dedicated platforms (Hiptops > for example).
Actually, most Blackberries have browsers of one sort or another, with varying support for HTML, WML, etc. To the extent that PDAs double as phones, they usually have some sort of internet browsing capability. > Some other general facts also cut into the potential share. > Most people (upwards of 80%) don't install new software on > their handhelds - they use them as is. If Microsoft bought Opera, and relabeled it as the new Pocket IE, that would be irrelevant since it would distributed as part of Windows Mobile. > Perhaps... but while online-enabled cell phones are indeed > on a (slight) rise the handheld market overall (palmtops) > has decline steadily for the past two years - upwards of > 20% per quarter. (Here's a summary from ZDNet: > http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/index.php?blogthis=1&p=8478) > > This can be attributed in large part to the rise of cheap > laptops (there's no longer a need for "Laptop replacements"). > Some is definitely related to the rise of RIM and simple, > easy-to-use remote email (that's really the "killer app" > for online handhelds). Some of the market has also clearly > went to more complex cellphones... but that market hasn't > risen nearly as much as the other has fallen. That ZDNet link points to an IDC study, which excluded PDA phones and smartphones from the handheld market: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?pid=23571113&containerId=prUS00203505 So, yeah, fewer people are interested in standalone PDAs. I know I'm not interested in a PDA that isn't also a phone. I've owned an original Palm, the first Pocket PC (the iPaq 3600), a Toshiba PPC, and an iPaq 2200. My last two PDAs, however, have also been phones, so according to this study I would count as someone who no longer purchases handhelds. > I'd probably place them about even. Even just from the > perspective that the vast majority of PocketPCs are not > used online it seems unlikely that the spread is that > great. Again, to the extent that we include PDAs that are also phones, I don't think your statistic is valid. To the extent that people are buying devices that use 3G data networks (EV-DO and EDGE here in the US), I would expect that they're using those data networks for browsing as well as email and IM. > However when already IN a market they just don't do this > (or at least not as a habit). They may buy a product to > kill it (FoxPro for example) but I can't think of single > example where they retired a product through purchase. I don't think MS bought FoxPro to kill it. They bought it for its indexing technology ("Rushmore") which was way ahead of anything they had in-house at the time. It's my understanding that aspects of that technology have since been incorporated into other products like Access. That provides a perfect example of how they might use Opera. > If we agree to label online browser usage as an "emerging > market" then I think we must also label ebooks in the same > way. If anything the indicators here seem more attractive > to me than for the handheld browser market. Sure, it's an emerging market. However, to say that people will be more likely to purchase ebooks than to use the free browser built into their Internet-connected device strikes me as absurd. The big hurdle to browsing the web from your PDA was that your PDA wasn't on the network. Now, it typically is, and with the 3G connectivity mentioned above, browsing is pretty fast. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ Fig Leaf Software provides the highest caliber vendor-authorized instruction at our training centers in Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, or on-site at your location. Visit http://training.figleaf.com/ for more information! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:227679 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
