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Enterprise Mobility Trends: Can you have too many screens?

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Three screens
How many screens do you own? The number is probably much greater than you think. First take a wild guess at the total, then take a moment and actually count the number of screens and devices you currently own or use. Keep in mind that there are devices included here that don’t use a screen, but require access to one (and often access to the internet as well),  adding up your “screen-time.”

1. How many personal devices do you carry with you? (Add in household members to see your management challenge)

  • Cell phones or smartphones
  • Laptops
  • iPads
  • Kindles
  • Other tablets
  • Personal GPS devices
  • Other

2. How many are in your car(s)?

  • Video/DVD players
  • GPS devices
  • Cell phones
  • Other

3. How many are in your home(s)?

  • Desktop computers and screens
  • Laptops
  • TVs
  • Wii, PS3, and other gaming systems
  • DSi, iPod Touch, PSP, Zune and other music and gaming handheld systems
  • Security systems
  • Home automation systems
  • Other

4. How many do you use at work?

  • Desktop computers
  • Laptops
  • Company-issued cell phones
  • Other

Now total up the numbers. Are you surprised? Most people are!

Can you ever have too many screens? Some say no. But have you considered all of the hard and soft costs of supporting these devices – both in device acquisition and connectivity charges?

  • And what about data security?
  • With all of your information spread across multiple devices, are you backing up all of your data regularly?
  • Changing your passwords on all devices?
  • Ensuring that your virus software is up to date on all devices?

Today’s consumers and businesses are rapidly adding adopting new devices and supporting additional screens. Take for example the new Apple iPad. Over one million of the devices were sold in the first month alone. The iPad’s functionality overlaps nicely with many existing devices — including the Amazon Kindle, portable DVD players, smartphones, and hand-held game devices like the Nintendo DSi and the Sony PSP.

For business, the iPad effectively fills the gap between mobile phones — which can be too small for easily reading and replying to emails, or browsing the web and watching videos — and laptops, which are too large to carry around 24×7. But for many consumers who already own a smartphone, a laptop, and other devices — the iPad may just be one device too many.

In our soon-to-be-released, Q3 Mobile Workforce Report, we asked mobile employees how many devices they carried regularly for both work and personal reasons. Nearly 97 percent of mobile employees carried two or more mobile devices, and almost 50 percent carried three or more. Somehow, administrators need to “embrace the chaos” and realize that this trend is not stopping. Tune in later this week, for the insightful results from this survey and issues with tracking the costs – how many devices, who pays for them and how much free time do people really have?

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