Gadgets Greet Business Travelers

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I admit that a lot of this jockeying has confused me. I traveled with an ultra-slim, three-pound notebook computer more than a decade ago and watched with horror as laptop manufacturers made their machines bigger and heavier in recent years. I didn't want to watch movies on a widescreen display, which added a few inches to the size of a laptop. I didn't want an onboard optical drive, which added weight. I wanted small, light, and mobile, and it seemed that laptop makers had forgotten that a portable computer was supposed to be portable.

I bought my first BlackBerry because I couldn't find a laptop small enough to carry everywhere. Last month I bought the Acer Aspire One on impulse because I was seduced by the small footprint (this one is 7-by-10-by-1 inches) and the light weight. And if it isn't the portable device of my dreams (I've added a mini-mouse and slowed my touch typing), it sure is a break for my aching, aging back as I schlep my carry-on bag through airports and hotels.

Of course, I'm never satisfied. I look at the iPhone and the BlackBerry and wonder why they can't do just a little more so I can ditch my laptop forever. I look at my six-pound laptop, now banished from my carry-on, and can't imagine that I ever accepted it as a "portable."

I look at my new netbook and I already think about buying one of the new models with a 10-inch screen. And while it flawlessly runs simple programs like word processing, email, and Web browsing, its low-powered processor and limited memory (mine has a fairly standard 1 gig) makes it infuriatingly slow for more complex tasks.

And where, I wonder, is my convergence machine, the one that makes calls flawlessly around the world, doubles as my music play, triples as a fully functioning portable computer and fits in my pocket?

Forget it, says Baker.

"One device will not be sufficient," he says. "We will continue to carry both a pocketable smartphone and a lightweight notebook for serious computing. Trying to combine both in a single device is like combining a toaster and microwave."

Don't get me started on toasters. I've been through three in the last two years and I still can't get my bagel toasted properly.

The Fine Print…
Here's some good news: A consortium of 17 cellphone manufacturers and cellular phone companies say they have agreed on a standard for a universal charger for mobile devices. A one-size-fits-all charger may be ready by 2012. The bad news? Neither Apple nor Research in Motion have signed on.

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