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How did they get all that stuff inside? The Incredibly Shrinking Computer, Part 2.

Article Excerpt
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Since I finished part 1 of this article (February 2009, pp. 12-15, 51-54), my smartphone has begun changing my life. It is making me smarter and more connected, supporting my travel time, keeping me apprised of current events such as stock market prices and news flashes. It holds pictures of my wife and family--all the while fitting neatly in a shirt, pants, or jacket pocket.

Surely you, my caring readers, share my joy in having a device that can provide my life with usable functions. But how about you? Have you decided yet to upgrade to the current versions of smartphones?

* Can you afford a few hundred dollars to buy the equipment?

* Can you sign a 2-year contract that commits you to $60-$100 of billing each month?

* Are you willing to spend a bunch of hours over the first few weeks of ownership to learn the new functions?

* Are there applications that you are willing to try while mobile and away from your laptop--such as note-taking, personal banking, messaging, email, internet search, music play, picture-taking, map directions, and so on?

* Will you remember to recharge the device every day?

* Do you want to try to fly/drive/walk without your laptop computer?

* Can you spell "synchronize" and, more important, know what the word means?

Answering the significant question about migrating to a smartphone depends on how you now use communications tools in your work and personal life and how you wish you would.

* Some folks never want a cellular phone. They feel it is too intrusive, too expensive, too complicated or all of the above. This is not a terrible decision. Everyone gets to choose how to lead his or her own life.

* Some folks only want to make telephone calls. Having all the superfluous features is a money waster or fashion statement they do not want to make.

* Some folks want the basics and maybe a few sexy features, e.g., calendar and email, but no camera. Unfortunately, smartphones are not sold by fast-food hamburger companies. You can pick and choose...

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