Monday, August 28, 2006

UMPCs for business or pleasure?

On this occasion it's Australia's ROAM Magazine that takes a stab at UMPC, and the merits and mistakes it holds therein. This time two experts were interviewed and quoted as stating:



Snipping:

Michael Sager, research manager for hardware with IDC Australia, isn't holding his breath. 'Whatever this platform is going to address, whether consumer or commercial, it's going to have a lot of clarity around that. It is going to have to be crystal clear what it actually does.'

Sager believes the Australian market will take a while to warm to the UMPC. 'These size devices don't do very well in Australia, and I don't think anyone will be expecting this to push through big numbers soon. It is going to be a much tougher sale here than in the Asia Pacific. And I will put expectations very, very low.'

[FAIR CALL]

Hugo Ortega, Principal of local TabletKiosk Distributor Tegatech Australia, is nonetheless a UMPC believer. His first two consignments of devices sold out quickly, raising eyebrows amongst heavy hitting customers in the retail, financial services and Government markets. 'UMPC is not going to be a success for the general public,' Ortega says. 'It has too high a price to hit the spot with mums and dads, but I think there will be huge success with enterprise customers. Larger devices are too heavy and PDA's are under-processed. These are still under processed when it comes to replacing the notebook, but they will really be aimed at mobility teams rather than replacing regular notebooks or desktops.'

[YOU DECIDE???]



7 comments:

Gabriel Gonzalez said...

Why not both? Business and pleasure!
I think my parents will start using more a PC at home with an UMPC simply because they wouldn't have to go upstairs !

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hey Gordon,

It didn't take you long to come up with a solution for UMPC did it??? About 25 words or less - imagine if you really sat down and had a think..LOLOLOL

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hola Gabriel,

I think you're right, in fact me mum is desperate for one herself. My point revolves around the commoditization of the product, and right now the amount of units mums and dads will vs. what business will buy, is significant. It's a numbers game that needs to be won before we see UMPC considered as a "real" form factor.

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

;-)

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

LOL...something like Ultra-Ultra-Mobile-Mobile-PC...LOL

The fact remains that the form-factor of UMPC is where it has hit the spot. The Tablet features appear to be fairly irrelevant. PDA too small, laptop too big, is all I hear everyday.

Here's to UUMMPC's!

Gabriel Gonzalez said...

Asus ships it with built-in GPS IIRC which is a very nice feature but you are right about ram and cpu.
I think I will wait for ASUS increasing the "computer power" of its umpc or any other one with builtin GPS

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Gordon & Gabriel (and all),

Indefinitely we all need to know that there is a magic threshold that will NEVER BE MET. If you think for a minute that manufacturers can’t make the device we ALL want then you probably also think that McDonald’s “health kick” is all about the health! Manufacturers aren’t it for you; they’re in it for themselves. Sad but true.

What happens, and what remains the ironic truth, is that we, as the consumer, dictate the market space. We do this in the following three ways:

1. By the fashion we follow
2. By the demands we place on our devices
3. by the price we are willing to pay

Period!

Manufacturers on the other hand look at the process this way:

1. Look at what’s fashionable
2. Manufacture to the least stringent standards in order to meet user demands
3. Then there’s price. They know that “FREE” is the only price everyone likes so they fit all of the above requirements using this as prerequisite during the design and manufacture process.

So when it comes to “the magic device” you need to know this, IT WILL NEVER COME. Because even when it looks good, functions exactly the way we need, and if practically free, you’re standards would have changed/raised and the vicious cycle begins again.

I think the only manner to buy technology today is to draw a line in the sand and judge only by your highest personal requirement. For some that may be the burning desire to own the latest toy. For others it may be an increase in productivity, and for some it may be the need to replace rather than repair. Whatever your highest most burning reason may be to delve into the market may be, just analyze products around that very need and BUY.

Hope this helps!

THIS HAS BEEN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HUGO ORTEGA