On CNN today there is a story about how smart phones and PDA’s might make the laptop obsolete. The story talks about how the PDA has many of the same functions as a laptop, but in a much smaller (and more easily transportable) form factor.

As a user of both a Pocket PC PDA and a laptop, I do not think that the PDA will make laptops obsolete. Sure, you can check email, browse the Internet and listen to MP3’s using a PDA, but it is a royal pain in the butt to input a good deal of text. Until someone invents a really portable keyboard (a fabric keyboard would be awesome), I think the traditional laptop is here to stay. Plus, how are you going to load Photoshop on your smart phone? I’d have to say that the best solution right now is an ultra-portable laptop. Something around 2-3lbs with at least 40GB HD.

On the other hand, PDA’s are relatively cheap, so that’s a good choice as long as you know what you can and can’t do with it. I love to browse the web with it, but I won’t bother writing long emails with it.