The release of Apple’s iPad, and the flurry of competitive tablet PC products set to release over the next 12 months, will undoubtedly change the face of mobile computing. Full PC computing power, with high speed wireless web connection, all in a conveniently portable package. But, what will be the impact of these new devices on daily business computing? That is the million dollar, or rather billion dollar question.
In my opinion, the change will be nothing short of revolutionary.
Technology for small businesses, the lifeblood of this country, has been largely tied to desktop PCs. While laptops provide mobile computing options, they are far too expensive for small businesses to assign to mobile personnel. Hardware prices have fallen to affordable ranges, however the software used by small businesses has grown towards the web with SaaS offerings becoming the attractive options. SaaS platforms (Software as a Service) require one major component that has not yet seen a major price drop – wireless mobile internet. Tablet PCs will change that.
Even though iPad has a high hardware price relative to the tablet market, the mobile internet plan is very affordable. As other hardware devices enter the space, hardware prices will remain below $500. As long as mobile devices can be purchased for around $300, and mobile internet service can be purchased for $20/month or less, small businesses will be able to access this level of technology, and run the SaaS platforms they can afford, creating efficiencies our economy has never seen. What kind of efficiencies? How about doubling the mobile staff, without adding any new management? How about tripling it? How about tripling said staff without adding any major technology? The ratios of efficiencies gained will be simply outstanding.
Take the trucking businesses for instance. There are nearly 8 million commercial drivers on our roads today. Tow thirds of them work for companies with fewer than 50 trucks. Drivers working for these smaller firms do not have technology in the truck that connects them digitally to their home base, other than a cell phone. A tablet PC in a trucking rig not only offers the connectivity needed for dispatching management through web-based trucking software, but adds a tremendous amount of other functionality: mapping and GPS tracking, traffic reports, e-mail and several other communication methods, plus much more.
With each and every tablet PC introduced to a single truck, my prediction is an additional 2-5% to the company’s bottom line. For businesses traditionally seeing roughly 10% net margins, an increase of 2 percentage points represents a 20% increase in net profit. Since when do small businesses, much less trucking companies, have the ability to increase the bottom line a staggering 20% by simply buying a new computer? That’s a revolutionary change at a time when our country needs it most.
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