Mobile Computing
November 24, 2008
The biggest innovation of today is probably the mobile computing, but what is mobile computing and what kind of mobile computers do we have today?
Mobile computing is a generic term which describes the ability of a person to use technology while moving, as opposed to portable computers. Since 1990 a lot of different types of mobile computers have been introduced such as:
Are these types of mobile computers really useful? Well not a lot because they have many disadvantages such as technical and other limitations. First of all is the bandwidth which in many cases is insufficient. If the user want to connect to a network such as Internet, they have to resort to slow wireless WAN systems which are primary intended for a telephone use. Second is the security standards which are not that great, because while the mobile is working he is connected with public networks and is depending on them so we have to be vary careful with the use of the VPN keys. Further on is the power consumption. Since the grid can not be used the rely entirely on battery power, suggesting that the batteries do not have a long life and the user has to change the batteries quite often which is of course expensive. Next is the Transmission interferences, followed by the potential health hazards and the human interface with the mobile computers. We can have some problems such as bed reception,with these technologies and that all depend on the weather conditions, distance/limited connection and of course the terrain. For example in some buildings and the tunnels the reception is really poor. Even though some potential health damage from cellular radio frequency is still unknown, most of the car accidents are connected to drivers who were using or talking on their mobile devices while they were driving. Also it is really risky because cell phone and especially smart phones can easily connect and interfere with sensitive medical devices. As HMDs are still uncommon, screens are most of the time too small and the keyboards are really impractical, so because of that the user of these mobile computers has to put a lot of effort so he can be able to operate with them. But somewhere down the road there are also many advantages. With their help we can easily be in contact with the rest of the world at any time, they are made so they can withstand different temperatures while operating, they are resistible on vibrations while we are moving. Probably one of the biggest features is the touchscreen which can allow as(the users) to easily operate with them.
