How mobile are you?

The PC is passé, according to latest market research. We’re becoming less inclined to sit down at a desk when we want to access the web; we want it anywhere we are.

Latest forecasts from market researchers IDC say that the world’s current two billion internet users will reach 2.7 billion within four years, and most of them will be getting online through a phone or a tablet, or both.

Smartphone internet use is tipped to grow at an average 16.6% per annum between now and 2015, while PC use declines.

“Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the internet,” said Karsten Weide, IDC’s research vice president, Media and Entertainment. “Soon, more users will access the web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it's going to make the Internet a very different place.”

Commensurate with this mobile web boom will be a surge in global business-to-consumer ecommerce spending ($708 billion now, $1.285 billion in 2015), with online advertising growing over the same period from $70 billion to $138 billion.

DATA ON THE MOVE

While doubts persist about whether the tablet is ready to replace the PC (see ‘Tool or Toy?’), mobile devices are definitely making their impact in the business community – and there are companies ready to supply devices that enable easy access to business applications while on the move.

One mobile work aid, due for release to businesses by the end of the year, is CNAP.me, a cloud-based platform that allows workers to view personal files and settings from any computer with internet access, simply by inserting a USB stick.

The company says data on the device is encrypted, and that its servers can support thousands of users at low cost, providing document and spreadsheet software and instant messaging capabilities alongside virtual desktop and browser.

Another company, Brainshark, provides cloud-based software for creating, tracking and sharing online and mobile video presentations. PowerPoint documents, for instance, can be stored on mobile devices and then plugged into customers’ systems for demonstrations by salespeople.

“Not only does that change the dynamic for a company's own employees – freeing them from their desks and conference rooms that used to be the traditional places where work was done – but it also changes how your employees work with your customers, prospects and channel partners,” said Brainshark’s CEO, Joe Gustafson.

“When you look at what businesspeople are using mobile connections for, one of the top three uses – just after accessing email and contact information – is accessing business content. It's content that helps employees do their jobs and helps them sell, learn and communicate.”

DON’T FORGET TO KICK BACK

Of course, with all this connectivity comes a new set of pressures. It’s becoming harder to ‘switch off’ and take a break with all those emails at your fingertips, all those sites to browse, all those contacts who might be just waiting for your call...

Gustafson suggested that the mobile device provides the answer: take some time to watch some YouTube, play a game, etc, schedule regular downtime when you turn your devices off and smell the flowers, or even prioritise your work-related apps so they aren’t so readily accessible after hours.

Above all, be sure that you establish a definite division between ‘work time’ and ‘personal time’. There’s no reason to be checking your business email at home at 10pm just because you can. Keep it on a separate account from your personal stuff, and turn it off outside of working hours. Many smartphones these days are capable of handling dual profiles, so if you can establish ‘work’ and ‘personal’ settings, the phone will be able to automatically divert work-related calls to voicemail when you tell it you’re not ‘at work’.

Remember: everyone has to play and rest, and no-one is going to begrudge you that leisure time.

COMMENTS

How mobile are you? What do you do with mobile devices? Do you wish you were more or less connected? Do you make a point of switching off? Share your thoughts with us.

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