Less emphasis on smartphones and more focus on slates here at #HIMSS11

I'm currently at HIMSS11. Last year, many companies were showcasing smartphone apps and smartphone solutions for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and webOS. This year, there's much more focus on slate devices like the Apple iPad and less emphasis on smartphones. What does this mean about the future of mobile computing? Physicians will continue to use smartphones, but perhaps smartphone utilization will decrease as slate (and other mobile devices) utilization increases.

These are interesting times because there's so much excitement around slate devices. Some of these devices have 7" screens while others have 9" screens. Smartphones are getting larger, so eventually these devices may converge or we'll simply get accustomed to computing on smaller screens.

HIMSS will be very interesting next year given the fact that we'll have so many new mobile devices on the market by the end of 2011. I anticipate even less mention of smartphone solutions next year and greater emphasis around slate devices like the new Apple iPad 2, the BlackBerry PlayBook, the HP TouchPad running webOS, and a variety of slates running Google Android. Wouldn't it be ironic if the smartphone were to evolve backwards and turn into a simpler device?

For now, I will continue to carry my Droid X and iPad everywhere I go.



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