UMPC – What’s the point?
29 March 2006
I’m sure everyone who has the internet has heard about the UMPC – Ultra Mobile PC. If you don’ have the internet, then you’re probably not reading this, so I don’t care about you.
I want to like the UMPC – I really, really do. After all, I love gadgets of just about every shape and size. My only pet peeve is gadgets that have no purpose that i can determine. That’s my problem with the UMPC. It’s being touted as a go-anywhere, ultra-mobile, smaller than a laptop but just as powerful device. Cool. Here’s the problem. It’s too big to fit in my pocket. By making the device too big to fit into my pocket, it completely destroys any semblance of usefullness that it ever had. If I want to take my “Ultra Mobile PC” with me, I have to carry it in a case. Probably a case that has a strap, and I’ll put over my shoulder. Oh wait, that sounds familiar?
Why would i carry a UMPC with me, when I could just get a small ultralight laptop with more functionality? I’d get the fullsize keyboard, as well as an optical drive. Chances are pretty good that the laptop would be faster as well. Let’s not forget the larger screen also. See where I’m going with this? And if you’re the kind of person who is in love with the touch screen ( can’t say I blame you – I love touch screens ) we already have the Tablet PC, which IMHO combines the functionality of the laptop and UMPC. You get the fullsize keyboard and the touchscreen, in a large enough package to make for comfortable use.
If I want some portable computing action, I can manage with my Treo or PPC-6700. They are very flexible and can get the job done. If they aren’t powerful enough, I’ll take my laptop. If I have to carry a case with me, I might as well have a truly useful tool, instead of a device with no keyboard and a small screen.
The only truly neat use I can see for the UMPC is in automotive applications. It does seem to fill a certain niche for auto customization enthusiasts. They used to have to find ways to jam a regular PC somewhere in there car, and add a separate touchscreen. This definately simplifies things for people like that. But is that market truly large enough to sustain this device?