My colleague and manager, Amol, weighs in on when he’ll use his smartphone and when he’ll defer to his PC. Turns out he still does most of his shopping from his trusty laptop. Do you?

Isn’t it good enough that I can access the Internet with a smartphone that fits in my pocket and weighs what…less than 5 ounces?

Apparently not.

I’m loading a major retailer website on my phone right now and it has taken far too long to load. So in life, I’ve started to employ a “multi-technology” strategy: I use my mobile for news websites, e-mail and playing poker, and a laptop for retail shopping. The experience is better on a laptop even for news portals, and I like that experience.

For me, it all boils down to speed and ease of use, and I’m not alone. I want to see products in more detail before I buy them, and for that I need a larger screen. I need to navigate, and navigating requires greater computing power. I want to comparison shop, so I might prefer two browsers (I’m aware the iPhone does this, and perhaps my decision is made!) I also admit I find typing in various websites and looking at the screens on a smartphone requires a ‘concentration’ I’m not prepared for.

Incredible though, how I can get all kinds of things delivered without leaving my house. The laptop is enough of an efficiency for me. Perhaps it’ll be a few years before I make the move to doing it all on the go…quite a few years. I never like to be in that much of a rush.

This isn’t a shot at smartphones. They have changed my life no doubt. That said, there are limits of my use, all based on speed and ease, and when a laptop will do, let it do!