How is WiFi used productively?

[Unregistered]

I don't mean - oh I use it to surf my favorite webpages or to IM my buddies or other ways to "play". I am wondering about something that is productive in a business sense or even personal productivity that is not leisure related.

Thanks! Seems like a lot of money and effort if it is only used as a toy.

[rldunn]

Email is one big business use, if you only want to view emails or think it's tolerable to respond using the thumbboard. And the web browser handles many things. If you normally use the web to view something needed for work or even a work intranet, then that could also be done on the Clie as well, though it won't be the same due to the small screen.

So it really comes down to your personal setting. I'm struggling with whether to get it as well. I already have a nice laptop that has wireless, so I would only need it for the times I didn't have my laptop with me, and I'm not sure how often those would be. And you're right, it's too expensive to buy solely as a toy. Though it was only $125 at Amazon yesterday, minus the $50 rebate, so $75 total. Getting closer to a price point where I'll probably jump in.

[PortableCow]

And don't forget students. Our campus uses WiFi extensively in several of our main buildings. It saves the school mucho money when it comes to providing internet access to students. It reduces the cost of having to renivate buildings that are too old to provide ethernet ports. It also means that with easier, more abundant access to the internet and network to students with laptops, computer lab computers are not in as high of demand as they used to be, thusly the school saves money by not having to expand computer labs.

I think WiFi is way more than a toy... I do not understand why people continually think it is. Would these people say the same thing about ethernet cords, or a phone line... aren't they essentially doing the EXACT same thing as WiFi...

I guess it all comes down to... "How dare you call my WiFi a toy"
Haha, :)

Hope that helps a bit.

[rldunn]

PortableCow, that's not how I took the original question. I work at a university too with my set of buildings completely wireless, and I have a home wireless network set up as well. With my wireless laptop, I use wireless mainly for business reasons. But on a Clie, it seems most people with Wifi are using it to "play", with a few exceptions. So I took the original question as not asking whether Wifi was a toy, but whether Wifi on a Clie is a toy. Maybe that was just my interpretation though.

[kf6gpe]

Email. Hands down, in both the office and at home. In the office, I can email meeting minutes as I walk away from the meeting, insuring that nothing gets lost, without needing to bring a laptop or type up minutes after the fact.

At home, with my wifi network, I can check email quickly and easily (I work only part time, but my job requires that I'm generally always available during business hours.) I tend to check my email far more often with the Clie, just to see if there's anything I need to touch base with, than I would otherwise while I'm watching my son.

I use IM from home the same way --- on the days I'm home, anyway.

It's made keeping in touch with the office and coworkers both in the office and out much more seamless with the other things I do.

[PortableCow]

Ah, indeed, I guess Mr. Guest could have meant the Clie only. In that case I can see what they mean by "toy". I have an NR-70 so currently WiFi is not an option. However, recent rumor has it that a MS wifi option will be availiable by July, maybe. I will most likely purchase this accessory (I'm sure it will be $150+). Like kf6gpe, e-mail will be my number one use for a wifi enabled Clie. It will also come in handy for accessing the online portion of my classes (i.e. discussion boards, notes, grades, etc...).

[n2ifp]

It is my toy and it also gives me freedom. Just think, I can read my emails form underneath my covers and tuck it onder my pillow when I am done. It also makes it easier to HotSync with several PC's.

Some buy a Rolls when they could get there with a Yugo...

[nene2040]

It's also helpful for someone like my father who spends his days daytrading and drinking starbucks coffee. If he had a Clie with a Wi Fi card, he'd be a happy man.

[Michael Quach]

In the hospital where I work, they will be implementing a WiFi network so I can wirelessly look up patient lab data. This will be invaluable. You simply don't know how much time I spend sitting in front of a desktop, looking up labs.

[Kesh]

That's the real power of WiFi on a PDA: quick information access.

Doctors could wirelessly access a database of patient records, dosages for medicine, or even a walkthrough-style diagnosis tool.

Factory managers could wirelessly check the status of their machinery: internal temperatures, average time to completion, and important maintenance schedules.

Sales personnel can take the load off their display floor wirelessly: price checks, orders for more inventory, past sales of a product, discontinuations or recalls, and specials.

(On that last item, my mother works at Sears. They have a product called a SNIK, which is essentially a PalmOS handheld with wireless capabilities and a barcode reader. They use it for price-checks, ordering signs for the displays and for inventory/pricing corrections.)

So yes, WiFi does have a serious buisness purpose on Clies. Anyone who needs to constantly look up or alter information on-site would find it extremely useful.

Personally, I use it for fun. :D