Goodbye PDA. Hello Smartphone.

Back in 1992, John Sculley, then president of Apple Computer, first used the term “PDA” when introducing the Apple Newton at the Consumer Electronics Show.

He called it the first real “Personal Digital Assistant.” While the small size of the Newton was novel, it was the new touch screen that wowed the audience. For the first time, people could select items by tapping directly on the screen instead of using buttons. While Newton never took off, five years later a small company, Palm, launched their version of the PDA, the Palm Pilot, and mobile computing has never been the same.

Today the vast majority of PDAs are cell phones. It’s hard to find a PDA that is not bundled with a phone. Last year, the sale of Smartphones to non-phone PDAs was nearly five to one in the United States. Coincidently, as I write this, Palm just announced that they are discontinuing the only remaining two non-cell phone PDAs from their line. The simple fact is that most people would rather carry a single device rather than a phone and a separate PDA.

In the past six months we have seen truly remarkable new products, giving us real choices in next generation Smartphones. Apple’s iPhone has become the No. 2 best selling cell phone in the United States and the No. 1 selling Smartphone. Last November, RIM released their new Blackberry Storm, which is a departure from their thumbwheel design to their first touch screen. Blackberry’s dominance in large enterprise computing (and a favorite with President Obama) has made their e-mail interface the one to beat.

Now the PDA pioneer, Palm, is getting serious about Smartphones, having just announced their new Palm Pre in January. It’s got a brand new web-centric operating system that so far has impressed the industry pundits. It’s slim and offers both a touch screen and a keypad for entering text.

The question, of course, is what really is the perfect combination of features for a construction business?

• Cell phone/Camera/Calendar?
• Cell phone/Video Camera/Gaming?
• Web Browser/Music /E-mail?
• Is more really better?

And the choices keep multiplying with each new Smartphone.

Software

More important for business users is the software. In only six months, there are over 15,000 applications for the iPhone. All of the new Smartphone companies have opened up their devices so that other companies can create customized software. My experience is that it is these software products-more than the Smartphones themselves-that should steer your buying decisions. If you find a software product that genuinely helps streamline payroll, improves project management or reduces completion time, the device that it runs on is secondary to the benefits of the software.

This year, keep an eye on how software companies utilize the Smartphones’ hardware features.  A built-in camera is great if I can take a photo of a damaged delivery and send it wirelessly to the vendor asking them to re-ship. Instead of typing in field notes that get sent into the office, I would love it if I could use the built-in microphone to record and send an “audible note” to my bookkeeper. The tough balance for jobsite management software companies is adding more tools and features, but keeping the human interface intuitive and simple. That is where the real benefits to business users lie.

GPS

In the last two years, GPS receivers have entered the consumer market in a whirlwind. Everyone I know has one or wants one. Many car manufacturers include them as options in their current models. The most common use, of course, is simple mapping-tell me where I am and how to get where I am going. But the benefits hardly stop there.

Many companies are using GPS for vehicle and asset tracking. You can log onto the Internet and see an online map that “bread crumbs” where all of your trucks have been the last week and whether or not the drivers were ever speeding. You can attach a hidden GPS to machinery and other assets as theft-protection. You can track worker attendance and where your employees actually are when they begin and end their day. You can even enclose a small GPS device in a valuable shipment and track where the package is at any given time while it is in transit to its destination.

Several months ago, I sat next to an operator in a John Deere tractor and watched how his built-in GPS system automatically steered his combine in perfectly aligned and spaced rows. The driver’s biggest complaint? The GPS system made it too easy for him to simply fall asleep while the tractor plowed away.

Keep an eye on GPS technology. The increase in productivity and savings will continue to astound as companies compete to capitalize on this great technology. And software for the Smartphone is the likely place for much of this GPS innovation to occur.

Ruggedized PDAs

There is also a special breed of “ruggedized” PDAs that offer protection against the rigors of a construction environment.  They offer special casings that can be banged around, left in the rain, even dropped and will continue to work for years. They typically will cost three to five times as much as a normal PDA, but when you examine the cost of replacements, they usually end up costing significantly less over the long term.  Many of these devices do have connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular connection) built into them but not necessarily a phone. Users of these devices usually are willing to give up the small size in exchange for a larger screen that makes using the programs easier.

The right technology at the right time can provide the edge that businesses need to stay competitive. And in the tough 2009 economy the difference between profit and loss is sometimes only a few percentage points. The right combination of PDA/Smartphone and business software can give you those percentage points by helping you estimate accurately, win bids and complete jobs on time.

Construction Business Owner, March 2009