Eleven years ago or so I started using my first “wireless device”. Back then it wasn’t a “smartphone” as we tend to refer to them today. It was a very simple device that sent and received email. It was the size of a pager (also very popular back then) and was incredibly reliable. The service was provided by Mobitex and not cellular providers as we experience today. Though it seems hard to imagine today, having email on your hip 24x7 in the 90’s was quite extraordinary.

My only other similar experience was when I started using my first mobile phone 20+ years ago. It truly was a “mobile phone” as the transceiver was mounted in the trunk of your vehicle and to make a call you picked up a handset and said; “mobile operator, please connect this call to_________”. There were no applications, just simply voice communication, which sure beat using pay-phones, even those that you drove up to!

Fast forward to 2011. After watching Blackberry decline in every way imaginable, I started using an Android device recently. While I miss a few things (i.e. Blackberry Messenger, PIN, etc.) about my Blackberry, I am very happy with my new device and yesterday I caught myself realizing just how much more productive I am with this electronic wonder. Using my HTC Incredible I was able to log my meals (part of my weight-loss program), make dinner reservations using Urbanspoon after reviewing restaurants, input client notes into Evernote during an impromptu phone call, made travel arrangements via Kayak, renewed a prescription via the Walgreens app, and scanned bar codes from grocery items in my house to my “Out of Milk” shopping app/list. Since I had a little bit of downtime waiting for my lunch, I scanned all of my shopper cards into a neat little program called Key Ring that reportedly will make it possible for me scan my shopper card at the store without the actual shopper card! Oh, and of course I also actively participated in social media (Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, etc.) throughout the day.

While true I could have done this via on my Mac or iPad, the point is that I didn’t have to. I was able to go out more or less unencumbered by having to carry another device. This also meant that I could just take care of what needed to be taken care of right then versus delaying it till later, thus avoiding double-work.

As amazed at all of this as I am, I am actually more excited by thinking about “what’s next.” What will I be able to do in six months on my smartphone? Its all very exciting, even for a baby-boomer like me!

By the way, since I mentioned my Mac and iPad, for those wondering, yes, I would really love to have an iPhone but I refuse to give Verizion Wireless $725 for a 3G device. Perhaps in the future I will be able to bring the Apple family together all under one roof :)