Daniel Robinson

There have been suggestions in some publications and on technology enthusiast sites lately that smartphones will replace laptops in the near future. In part, this speculation has been based on surveys showing rapid growth in sales for high-end mobile devices, to the extent that they are now outselling laptops. This speculation is nothing new, in fact, and is a debate that has surfaced many times in the past. So could a smartphone really replace a laptop now?

There’s no doubt that smartphones have been getting more powerful and more capable. Some of the latest Windows Mobile devices with 500-600MHz processors and upwards of 128MB memory are packing a greater punch than a desktop PC from the turn of the millennium, at least on paper.

And smartphones have clearly been replacing laptops for some applications already. If you take the smartphone label to include wireless handhelds such as the BlackBerry, then it is already the business device of choice for email and messaging. However, it is important to note that few workers who use a BlackBerry see it as their sole business client. Most still prefer to use a laptop for other applications, and probably access their email via Outlook when they have their laptop with them.

Those who believe that smartphones really can replace laptops have clearly not been observing the industry trend towards laptops with larger screens so that workers can cram in more open applications and see more of their spreadsheets.

Smartphones may now come with applications that support Microsoft Office file formats, but anyone who has tried to open a complex spreadsheet this way will tell you it is a non-starter.

That’s not to say that these functions are worthless; ­ the ability to receive a document by email from a colleague, review the information and act on it quickly is not to be underestimated. Being able to do this on a highly portable device gives workers the ability to be more responsive, which equates to greater productivity for the employer.

The point is that most people would rather not have to do all of their work this way. It isn’t comfortable, for one thing. A minimum size of keyboard and screen are necessary for serious productivity work, and users are still faced with a choice between this and greater mobility.

Smartphones cannot replace laptops ­ at least, not yet. But buyers should probably not be looking at them this way. No one would consider replacing servers with laptops, because the two are used for different purposes, and businesses should similarly consider smartphones for the particular business problems they can solve.