Gina Trapani ask her followers on Twitter whether they are going to upgrade to the new iPhone 3GS or not.You can see the compilation of answers here.
“So, are you getting an iPhone 3GS? Why or why not? (Will compile and report back best responses.)”
One of the answers says (by @megnut):
“Yes, iPhone = my computer, and $399 is worth it. Haven’t bought new laptop since late 06 and don’t plan to for long time.”
I think this raises a very interesting point. Has the iPhone become powerful enough to replace your laptop? So the tiny keyboard and smaller screen are drawbacks but it’s pretty amazing that you can do simple photo editing and create documents & spreadsheets, yea?
Rene from The iPhone Blog said:
A couple of friends of mine who work in IT administration have been telling me the same thing since the iPhone 3G launched. One of them recently left his laptop behind and took only an iPhone with him on a motorcycle trip and conference, and was still able to keep on top of his servers.
While the sheer volume of writing and editing demanded by TiPb still keeps me chained to a laptop, I’ll also admit to leaving the MacBook behind and running out with only my iPhone whenever I can — and yes, I’ve been likewise amazed at not only how much I can now accomplish with a mobile computing device, but how easily I can accomplish it.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball also expressed his views:
This, to me, gets to the heart of the revolution at hand. A decade ago, my first PowerBook was a secondary machine to the desktop anchored at my desk. Now, my main machine is my MacBook Pro, but it feels a bit like an anchor now. My mobile secondary computer is my iPhone.
My Thoughts
I think the iPhone will play a bigger role in people’s mobile computing. But will or can it replace your laptop? I think it really depends on your needs. For people with light usage (checking email, casual web browsing), I think the iPhone could definitely be an alternative. For me, it will. I don’t do a lot of heavy mobile computing and therefore carrying a laptop would be illogical.
What are your thoughts?
Below is a Friendfeed conversion about this subject:
