Thursday, December 6, 2007

On-line Office + Integrated Mobile Broadband - Cost = Good

Been following Australian IT journalist Adam Turner recently on his quest for the on-line office (in fact I think Adam could claim credit for inspiring me to try the idea) but ran into the Internet connectivity issue all too often to make it practical -– until I got to play with a notebook with integrated broadband one weekend recently.
Personally, I’m now convinced the fortunes of these two technologies will be very closely linked –- in my experience, without mo-bro the on-line office is more trouble than it’s worth but with it … let’s just say I’m still finding it hard to go back.
In my view the integrated part of integrated mobile broadband that makes a difference too, I think if I'd had to remember a USB dongle or fiddle with a PC card antenna I probably wouldn't have bothered for long.
That said, while it’s very cool, cost has been a barrier – I’ve been stung myself by bills from Optus for 3G phone service – but Vodafone’s announcement last week of a 5GB for $39.95 makes the functionality much more affordable.
NB: In the interests of disclosure, I work for a company which sells notebooks with mobile broadband.
PS: Here's an update from the Age, Mobile data price war hots up.

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