Form factor fallacies

    another Jim Chard guest entry

With little fanfare or recognition, handheld devices are replacing laptops and tablet PCs. The advantages are both obvious and subtle. Handhelds are always on; they don’t require time-consuming boot-up time. They are more cost effective. A company can buy 5 to 10 times as many handhelds as PCs for the same amount of money. Replacement for rugged use in the field becomes an expense item, not a capital item. It is certainly more convenient to keep your computing resource in your breast pocket or hanging from your belt than back in the truck or hotel room, or worse, dangling painfully from your shoulder.

Even more importantly, the PDA form factor is more appropriate for use in the field than a laptop or tablet. As long as bandwidth provides speedy updating and local data storage accommodates megabytes of data, the wireless handheld makes the laptop appear as an antiquated relic out in the field. The process of booting up and logging on vs the always available handheld literally saves thousands of dollars of wasted time in a large field force. And the ability to work with one hand rather than two hands on a keyboard (or using a stylus) means that field staff can multi process and update databases without pausing during their work. Capturing data and updating databases becomes part of the work process rather than a clunky intrusion at the end of the day. 

Nor is the small screen a limitation as handhelds develop the power to zoom in and out, display thousands of colors and navigate around a large drawing or x-rays. It wasn’t so long ago that we felt that we needed an E Size drawing to understand a blue print or a 14” x 17” film to understand an x-ray. Today we examine these images on a small computer screen with perfect comprehension; tomorrow we will view them on an even smaller handheld screen with equal comprehension. Not only x-rays and blueprints but maps, complex forms and detailed PowerPoint presentations can be rendered with perfect clarity and comprehension on the small screen, albeit in a different representation from that of a 19 inch flat panel monitor.

Transaction processing in the field (work orders, inspections and quality assurance, inventory receiving, etc) all require multiple pages and parts in a paper-based world. Wireless handhelds use displays tailored to the individual user (and easily customized), branching logic to emulate step-wise business processes, pick lists to minimize text entry, and feature-rich submenus to manipulate large databases or graphics. With careful analysis and design, a multi-page 8 ½ x 11 form can be reduced to a series of screens which allow a user to scroll and click the thumb wheel to readily scan and update  information. And all of this functionality and ease of use can be accomplished with a device that can easily be slipped into a shirt pocket.