Wireless Wonders

There are several factors driving this crossover, of course, including the fact that you can now evaluate plenty of entry-level notebooks for around the magic $1,000 price point. Last year, average prices were closer to $1,300. Prices for desktops are falling less rapidly. But the real key is wireless connectivity.

Wireless has turned the notebook into a small-business dream tool. If you think about it, the average owner or entrepreneur is just as much on the go or likely to work at home at all hours of the day as someone who works for a larger companyperhaps even more so. Yet, historically, small businesses were more reluctant to invest in the more-expensive notebook form factor. I believe those days are behind us.

Aside from Wi-Fi support, which seems virtually ubiquitous, we're now starting to see notebooks with built-in wide-area broadband wireless. Consider the new ultraportable VAIO T-Series from Sony, which contains technology to link it to Cingular Wireless' EDGE network. At $2,200, the base system isn't inexpensive, but it's the start of what are likely to be a series of experiments with third-generation, or 3G, applications.

It also is not lost on me that more and more of my friends are carrying around BlackBerrys. Sure, some of them work for large corporations who are outfitting field and sales personnel with these devices. But there are now plenty of applications that can be used by small-business owners who might not previously had the wherewithal to install Research in Motion's back-end server technology. Just a few of the software companies worth considering: Good Technology, Visto, Intellisync and Seven Networks.

We need to revise our thinking about notebooks and their role in small businesses. I'd argue you may have more opportunity for mobile solutions innovation with entrepreneurs than large enterprise accounts. It's time to cut the wires.

What mobile solutions are working for you? HEATHER CLANCY, Editor at CRN, welcomes your comments at [email protected].