Mobile Innovation Is Stalled: Why That’s a Good Thing | IT Pro

The latest iPhones didn’t wow. 5G is still a few years out. The new Samsung Galaxy Fold device is cool, but, at $1,980, it’s an unafforable luxury for most–especially when a $700 mid-market device will get the vast majority of mobile jobs done just fine. So, where is the true mobile innovation? The truth is, innovative new wireless and mobile products are extremely rare today. In fact, we’ve lived for some time in an era of incrementalism, wherein generation-to-generation basic functionality remains the same, with the typical faster/better/cheaper (price/performance) of new products and services substituting for any really big news within any given announcement.

Let’s face it, the mobile device and the wireless network it runs on are far less interesting today than the apps enabled and supported by them, especially from an IT perspective. Users in many cases keep their mobile devices much longer than they have in the past (another factor in Apple’s sinking equity price), often for several years, because the hardware increments simply do not justify a major new expenditure. Most new functionality is provisioned via enhancements in operating systems and upgraded apps that run well on older-model hardware.

5G and 802.11ax each has interesting new features, but, right now, the majority are truly valuable only to the vendors and carriers that manufacture products and operate networks.

But, believe it or not, this decelerated state of affairs is what we really want–and, in fact, need–today. Let me explain:

I’m thus arguing here that a slowing innovation rate in the more traditional elements of mobility is in fact a good opportunity for IT and network managers to take a breather and get the most out of what they already have, while taking a measured look at what solutions currently and will eventually best serve the organization going forward. True paradigm shifts–changes in the way we work–will become fairly rare going forward, and, again, must clearly demonstrate their value to enable meaningful adoption. Change for change’s sake alone is expensive and unnecessary.