Guideline Research released a report on the America's appetite for multifunction wireless devices. According to the news release, 49 percent of those surveyed have "no desire" for devices that allow them to multitask with their gadgets-- either make phone calls, in the case of mobile phone, or hold data, in the case of PDAs. James Belcher, co-administrator of the survey, said:

Multifunction devices don't reflect the consumers' preference for dedicated, simple devices. With the exception of the PC, most consumers just don't want to do multiple things with a single device.

In spite of the apparent sweeping conclusion, the article goes on to point out that 40 percent of survey respondents were "anxious to have a multifunctional device" and 10 percent already own a multifunction device. Last time I checked, 40 + 10 = 50. Isn't that just about even, 49 versus 50 percent?

I think that the survey underestimates the public's appetite for multifunction gadgets because it neglects some critical issues:

• knowledge of the features of specific handhelds versus hypothetical feature pairings,
• availability of third party software and services,
• pricing of handheld devices, and
• pricing of wireless services.

Operation Gadget readers are clearly in that 50 percent that either is anxious to have a multifunction device or already owns one. We know that our gadgets simplify our lives, even if they confuse some of our relatives and friends. We didn't buy our Blackberries and Treos for them, we bought them for us. [ via BargainPDA ]