At the end of July, I went searching for a new smartphone. (I’m still searching, by the way.) I visited every store, but at the Verizon store, I had a prolonged discussion with one of the managers. I wanted wi-fi on my phone (and I didn’t necessarily want Windows Mobile). Not surprisingly, I was attracted to one of the Blackberry phones, but it was without wi-fi. The manager and I went back on forth on why I did/didn’t need it. In fact, he tried very hard to convince me that there was no need for wi-fi when you have the Verizon 3G service.

So my thanks today to Om Malik, who has written an excellent post on exactly why I need wi-fi on my mobile device. Quite frankly, it helps me to be more mobile.

It all comes down to this – whether we’re using an iPod Touch, a netbook, a laptop, or a Blackberry, we’re using portable devices to access the Web no matter where we are. We can be in a park, a coffee shop (as I am right now), our home, or in an airplane. Om got some statistics from his neighborhood wi-fi net provider, Meraki:

First, some stats from the census that compared the devices that accessed Meraki access points in 2008 and 2009:

• The number of Apple devices observed, including laptops, iPhones and iPods grew by an impressive 221 percent.
• Apple now represents 32 percent vs. 14 percent in 2008 of all the devices seen by Meraki networks in North America.
• The number of smartphones (handheld devices) has quadrupled over the past year, with RIM showing a gain of 419 percent.
• The number of people using Intel-based devices declined 11 percent, which tells me that more people are using smartphones vs. laptops.

That last stat is key for me. Intel-based devices declined 11% in a year, which means there are more smartphones accessing this particular net than laptops. That’s fantastic growth, and should be a key indicator for wireless carriers. Their phone must access the Internet with more than just the 3G option.

An AdMob report from Feb 09 shows that smartphone usage increased from 25% to 33% in the previous 6-month period. Even the recession couldn’t stop us from investing in smartphones. According to PC Week, the number of smartphone users in 2007 doubled from the previous year. If that was 2007, can you imagine 2010?

Heading out? Don’t forget that computer in your pocket. And Verizon Manager Guy? Check out the stats and let me know if you still think I don’t need wi-fi on my phone.

Photo Credit (via Creative Commons)

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Cheers!

Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.