Quote from Bolimomo:
Mobility as in you can sit down in a restaurant/coffee shop and trade?
Or you holding an ipad walking down the 5th avenue and continue to tap on the screen to trade on the street?
In the former case, one can do it with a laptop at wifi locations or get an aircard.
In the latter case, laptops wouldn't work. Wondering how desirable that would be. Also it would need to be covered by the service providers. Also, the data throughput would be a concern.
It's comfortable to use commuting and walking around. I wouldn't trade while I was walking (it's a bit clumsy), but looking at data is fine.
Data useage is going to vary greatly between traders. My guess is that on a mobile platform, most will have 1 data source and watch a limited number of markets, so data useage should be light. If a trader finds mobile trading useful, the cost of data would be justified. Most people pay more to commute to work or on morning coffees than what a typical trader might use for mobile data.
Do people really carry around iPads with them when they go out of the house? Seems like more trouble than it's worth.
You would have to adopt a man-bag to do it. Actually, where I take mine is probably decided by whether I'll need a bag for it. If I'm out walking, at a park or a friend's place, I might take it. If I'm running around the city, I won't. Either way, a smartphone is more convenient.
I'll mention my tablet. It's not an Ipad, it's a Hanvon bc10c. It's specs put it above a netbook (i.e. weak laptops), and on the lower end of proper laptops. It'll run TWS and other software (I run amibroker) very well, and this is one of the two main reasons I bought it over an ipad or smartphone. The other reason was the size of the screen (10 inches). However, that screen size really isn't necessary for a mobile platform (I only need to view recent data), and I probably don't need a full operating system.
As a result, I feel my tablet is overkill and oversized for the specific use I intended. I think it's great as a laptop replacement - it's powerful enough, runs two external monitors standard, more with matrox/usd, and features a couple of usb outs. What it is not is a truly mobile solution. For that, I want a smartphone.
