Mobilestead Blog

No doubt that the smartphone, whether it’s an iPhone or the Blackberry, is a revolutionary device with limitless potential. Marc Andreessen, in an interview with Charlie Rose, acknowledged that the iPhone is a first cell-phone that is truly a computer which will create and encourage new ventures, and that “mobile has arrived.”

The article, Smartphones to go: Five apps you’ll want to pack illustrates just that. The new applications, both free and paid versions, offer to a traveler valuable, convenient, and on-the-go services all from one device – the traveler’s phone. For example, digital books and magazines through the Stanza application, or the Pocket Express “mobile concierge.”

I don’t want to undermine these “cool” and useful applications under any circumstances, because if one had a smartphone, they would surely be using them when traveling. However, I do have a concern: the fact that all these applications are developed individually, also means that they are unique and may be hard to access or figure out. I personally like extremely “user friendly” computer/cell-phone (which may soon become an interchangeable term!) devices, and would think that a group of useful applications, especially for one purpose, i.e. traveling, should be built under one umbrella. I think that if there was a standard, master application that offers a variety of options for any service, and is in the same format and style, that such a device would catch on faster and to a greater market range. Nowadays, simplicity attracts clientele, and I’m in front of the line waiting patiently for an umbrella of such applications.