Before we migrate all our technologies on to the mobile phone, i’m going to put another parameter in the mix – Physical constraints.
That is, for each function, are there any physical contraints to be applied. The simple example is – input. Its the holy grail of mobile devices, getting an efficient input mechanism to work on a small scale. And up to now, no one has achieved it.
Thats why we now have a range of input mechanisms. From voice to thumb. Lets list the physical constraints here:
Basic input (SMS and short emails – non real-time) = numberpad
Intermediate input (emails, blogs, notes, tasks, calendar, IM) = thumbpad
Advanced-intermediate (emails, docs, blogs, IM) – mini qwerty keyboard for two-finger typing on stable surface.
Advanced input – (everything) Normal qwerty keyboard.
Other inputs – voice, projected keyboard – not yet proved useable.
Basic output – (SMS, notifiers, small emails, WAP) = basic 2″ screen
intermediate output – (emails, notes, vid clips, small pics, simple navigation) = hi-def 2″ screen (say, 176×208 pixels)
Advanced-intermediate output – (video, document reading, low-level browsing, advanced navigation) = hi-def 3.5″ screen (say 320×240)
Advanced output – (long-term video, browsing, doc creation) – 5-7″ (say 800×480)
Best output – (all methods) – Normal PC screen.
Interesting to note that advanced browsing requires more screen size than video despite videos containg many more times more information. (A picture is really worth a thousand words)
As for physical contraints, i think thats about it. Lets assume we dont have to carry aerials, spare batteries and cables with us.
