Amazon’s e-book reader, called Kindle, was out of stock for Christmas thanks to generous publicity from Oprah and others. While e-book readers have been around for years, the public is finally accepting the fact that their e-book reading experience can match or surpass that of reading a real book.
In short, people are using mobile devices to replace legacy tasks – browsing the Internet, scheduling their day/calendars, email, social media, online transactions, gaming, and (can you believe) just plain old calling.
Devices like the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm push the limits even further. 2009 looks like a promising year for a continued push in mobile tech. Many mobile device developers have filed for some very interesting patents that shed light on where technology will be going. However, with consumer and business budgets at all-time lows, we’ll see how frugal consumers are with their wallets in 2009.