Microsoft UK's Marcus Perryman enters a treatise on what it means to be a mobile application and why Microsoft is the mobile platform of choice.
In his closing statement, Marcus mentions that 3G-enabled devices are finally starting to offer an alternative to laptops. I agree with this statement to some extent but I don't think we will see a major (almost blanket) adoption of mobile platforms until 4G/WiMax networks are widespread and the cost of mobile bandwidth has dropped dramatically. For most, the pricing model of GPRS and 3G data services are just too expensive to make Smartphones and PDAs a truly viable alternative device for mobile workers.In this day & age when I can get a 8Mbps DSL pipe with an unrestricted bandwidth allowance to my home for less than £30 per month, 3G and GPRS suddenly look like very expensive.