Integrate This!

My cousin broke out in to a series of profanities. I told him what the Odyssey navigation software, Pharos GPS chip and Blue Ant portable speakerphone for my PDA (Cingular 8125) cost. All 3 for under $ 225. He had paid at least 10X to get similar functionality installed in his BMW. And he has to pay for Hertz NeverLost every time he travels. And his maps are already outdated.

For the last decade, integrated, sole source has been the mantra in software and in other technology. As customers discover lock-in, lack of portability, integration issues of a different sort, the tide is turning. Example: a client about to re-bid his IT infrastructure outsourcing is pretty sure he wants to break the contract into components.  His incumbent  "integrated provider" has actually lost him transparency where trouble tickets are really getting bogged down. And it is frustrating when vendor reps blame their colleagues and throw their hands up and say - wish that was another vendor  I could have been a lot meaner.

Of course, I risk putting too much integration in to my little device - it is my phone, my black book, diary, email and web access on the road, my camera, my Garmin, my MP3 player, my modem, sometimes even my TV.

As back up, I bought a different GPS chip (OnCourse) for another $ 100. And it's nice to know there are plenty of alternative PDA choices coming (including Apple's). And since many of them will also run on WI-FI, still not become too dependent on Cingular's (previously AT&T, again AT&T) wireless network.

Back to my cousin. He almost choked me when I said "at least for the money you spent, it is tightly integrated into your lovely car". Gosh, integrated must be  a far worse profanity than I thought -)

Update: Garmin has introduced its own Bluetooth GPS chip