Let's Talk `Talk'

This story appears in the February 2000 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

At the peak of the technological boom, it seems like you can never keep up with the latest and greatest. You buy something new, and not even two minutes later, there's something better.

That has been the story of the telephone: we started with the phone, then the touch-tone, the cordless, the carphone, the mobile . . . does it ever end? Not just yet--the "smart" phone, a phone and Internet in one, may sound like just a luxury to you, but fifteen years ago, so was the mobile, and now they're as indispensable as deodorant.

According to a report by Datacomm Research Company, "Web Wonders: Opportunities for Smart Phones and PDAs," these palm-sized devices will grab nearly 90 percent of mobile phone sales within five years and shipments are expected to soar to 350 million units by 2003. At least we know they'll be around 'til then.

For a copy of the report, call (314) 514-9750 or go to the Datacomm Web site at http://www.datacommresearch.com