When I started my research career at IDC some 10 years ago now, I had the (mis)fortune of traveling extensively both throughout Western Europe and the US. The worst part of the entire experience was the perpetual catch up I had to do from being out of the office for a week at a time. The same concept applied to me this past week, when I attended CTIA in Las Vegas and then came back on the red-eye to participate in a company off site. What I can tell you was that CTIA was an absolute madhouse combining both consumer and enterprise mobility in one show for me and 40,000 of my closest friends. While I usually follow the adage, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” I figured I’d break (OK, bend) the rule this one time.
First of all, I want to talk about REDFLY I took with me to the show. I decided at the last minute to NOT take my laptop with me to see just how well I could survive a couple of days on the road with just my mobile and the mobility companion. The damn thing just worked. I saw (almost) everyone else on the floor running around with a heavy bag, while I just carried my tiny (and highly fashionable I might add) brief case. My mobile was buzzing every five minutes with new emails which I could respond to either with or without the REDFLY, but the kicker was when I had briefings to attend. I just opened up the REDFLY, opened up Office Mobile and took my notes. I also was able to show vendors my little PowerPoint deck on the 8 inch screen. I’d like to think that people were wowed with what I had to say and how my research agenda covered all the hot areas of enterprise mobility, but I have resigned myself to realize that they were equally impressed with what the REDFLY could do. I'll have another omelette please.
So, back to CTIA. First of all, let me state for the record that CTIA needs to do a much better job with regards to the way finding at the event. So many people had no idea how to navigate across the enormous Las Vegas Convention Center, Another thing I noticed and am amazed at was how many people (including myself) suffered from screwed up calendars when switching to PST. All the meetings I had scheduled in Outlook were pushed back three hours to adjust for the time difference. Same thing happened to people using Blackberries or even Symbian devices. This is just wrong! Why is it that there was no (easy) way to lock down the times in our calendars such that the 4pm meeting I had scheduled the week before STAYED at 4pm as opposed to moving to 1pm???? When I came home, I looked inside Outlook and couldn’t find anywhere that allowed me to lock down the time. This is ridiculous. I (or anyone else for that matter) should not have to adjust the way we work for technology….it should instead be the technology that accommodates to users. OK, enough of the rant – you get what I mean.
So what else? All the usual suspects were there, with a continued push towards the mobilization of Unified Communications. There were a lot of other companies showcasing solutions for mobile device and content management, as well as companies offering solutions for mobile application development. It was surprising though to see how small a presence the carriers had for enterprise mobility. Sprint was nowhere to be found, and AT&T's booth was surprisingly small (although I knew they had some important events off the floor). I did enjoy the HTC and Microsoft booths, where the two companies announced new products, including Windows Mobile 6.1 and the HTC Touch Dual, which is one killer mobile device.
So I spent two and half days in Las Vegas, had only 10 briefings each day and got to see only half the booths I would have liked to visit. Good times, good times. Next time, hopefully I will get to do Vegas Ari Gold style!
