In search of a Teleputer: Sony PSP

Teleputer, a great idea originally developed by George Gilder, is a converged device, bringing together functions of many gadgets we use today. Among these are personal computer, digital video camera, telephone, MP3 player and video player. The common wisdom is we still have a couple of years until the real teleputers arrive. But on the other hand there are several devices already on the market, that from the technology perspective could have been treated as teleputers. Could have been - only if the designers or product managers or marketing people did not make some mistakes. Yes, that is right, sometimes (I don't know why?), they just don't want to have a killer device. So for example let us look...

...how Sony blew it with PSP (PlayStation Portable).

PSP seems to be a perfect teleputer candidate. There are several factors that fit the perfect teleputer design.

1. Overall looks. Three years ago when I bought my first iPOD, I was shocked, how an electronic gadget can be designed as a piece of jewelry and packaged like expensive perfumes. After that hundreds of gadgets passed my hands and only Sony PSP was close enough to be considered an iPOD killer in this category.
2. Great screen. We have been hearing applause over latest so-called video iPODs. But they have just 2,5 inch screens. Sony has 4,3 inch, wide screen. Believe me, this does make a difference.
3. Processing power. Sony has plenty of it. Games are one of the most CPU-intensive applications today, and on the PSP the do run fast. And I mean fast. Faster than on my 1,5GHz Pentium.
4. Wireless (WiFi 802.11b) connectivity. PSP is the first broadly available commercial gadget equipped with WiFi.
   
   
5. Built-in Internet Browser. That happened with the release of PSP software version 2.0. Recently version 2.5 has added some minor improvements, but overall this browser seems to be very capable - I can view this blog or access my Gmail or basically any site I use on a daily basis.
6. High quality audio via built-in stereo speakers or a pair of airbuds.

So what is missing? And how close has Sony fallen from delivering the killer device?

1. There is no hard drive. OK, I know they want us to buy more and more memory sticks. But hard drives are still an order of magnitude ahead. Look. If I had a 60GB drive in my PSP, I would sell my old 40GB iPOD and would not consider buying a new one at all. I want to put all my music and all my photos on the gadget. Cannot fit them on a memory stick. Just imagine how brilliant would be a picture slideshow on Sony's screen...
2. Sony is a closed platform. With system version 1.0 there were several exploits available, letting you put third party software on the PSP. Like a game of Chess. But Sony locked out the exploits and I cannot play chess anymore...
3. No audio input. Why? Was it so hard to imagine people would talk to each other via VoIP and WiFi? With open platform (see above) Sony PSP would not wait long for a Skype client.
4. No accessory connector or Bluetooth. Internet browsing is great on the PSP. Gmail would be much better if I could use a thumb keyboard or even connect one like this.
5. No TV-Out connector. I would love to play PSP games or slideshows or videos on my TV set. But there is no connector... Can't understand why, when even some cellphones have one?

So, Mr. Sony, is there an upgraded version of PSP in the works? Or should we send some Qualcomm evangelists to show you the Slingshot? Looking at Sonys, Apples and others, Qualcomm finally decided to show them AGAIN how the gadget of the future should look like. Unfortunately they have just done a proof of concept, so we mortatrs will have to wait for Nokias and Samsungs and Motorolas to put all the pieces together to form a teleputer. Please don't let us wait too long. You have been shown how to do it. So just do it right this time...