Mobile tech I am thankful for

The holiday season is a good time to give thanks for the people who make our lives joyful. I am so greatful to have my family and friends in my life. May the holiday be good for everyone who celebrates it, and also those who don't.

Mobile technology has played a big role in my life and I am thankful for the advances I have witnessed firsthand that make my life better. It's worth sharing the mobile tech for which I am most thankful that has brought us to the place we are today.

Phone tech

I am thankful for the Palm Pilot for showing us how small computers could be, even at a time when most were not very mobile before its appearance. The Windows Mobile platform of old took the technology of the Pilot and brought it into the phone world, paving the way for the smartphones we currently take for granted.

I must put the BlackBerry on my list of things for which I am thankful. This technology unleashed the power of mobile email, first in the corporate world and then in the personal space. It paved the way for the smartphone of the future.

The iPhone, whatever you feel about Apple, was a total game-changer in the phone space and I am thankful for that. Never before had so much power and utility been put into such a small package, and that changed the phone space forever.

I am thankful for Google and its vision for the Android platform. From the original clunky G1 handset to the hundreds of millions of phones in users' hands today, Android has changed mobile tech for the better. Android may be wild and wooly compared to the rigid framework of most platforms, and I am thankful for that. It has allowed Android to evolve faster than any platform in mobile tech history, and I am thankful it has.

The rapid growth of LTE is something I am most grateful to see. This technology has changed the mobile space as much as any other, and I am thankful for that. LTE is the first technology to make the term "mobile broadband" not an oxymoron.

Tablet tech

I am thankful for the vision of Bill Gates with the original Tablet PC. While too far ahead of its time, it paved the way for the tablet space that is dominating mobile tech today. Gates' vision outpaced the capability of the hardware to make it viable, but it opened the world's eyes to the advantages of a mobile computer used in the hands.

Apple took that vision and pushed the hardware to make the original iPad a household product, and I am thankful for that. The iPad changed the mobile space forever, and it is dominating to this day.

I am also thankful for Google's vision of Android on the tablet, and while its original efforts were rocky they have evolved nicely. It is great to have choice in the tablet world, and I thank Android for giving us that choice.

While too early to tell if it will be well received or not, I am still thankful for Microsoft and its "reimagining" of Windows 8. No gutsier move has been undertaken by any company in recent years. Microsoft's move into producing its own Windows 8 hardware is just as gutsy and whether successful long-term or not is already pushing OEMs in the space to give up practicing business as usual. I am thankful for this push by Microsoft and the positive effect it is already having in the PC space.

General mobile tech

I am thankful for the Sony Walkman of old and how it changed the way consumers accessed music on the go. From cassettes to CDs, the Walkman line made it commonplace for us to carry music collections with us everywhere.

That led the way for Apple and the iconic iPod which carried that change even further. The iPod was directly responsible for the switch from physical music collections to the digital libraries used today. This change has permeated all forms of content consumption on the go, and I am thankful for that.

The original MiFi mobile hotspot device changed the mobile space in a big way and I am thankful for that. The MiFi demonstrated the benefits of sharing a mobile data connection when it was easy to do so. That demonstration ensured that hotspot technology appeared in smartphones, a game changer for mobile professionals. 

Thankful to be a mobile addict

This list of mobile tech for which I am thankful is quite short in reality. There are many other companies that produced technology and devices that have positively impacted my world. Perhaps one day I will be able to share what would be an epic summary of all the mobile tech I am thankful for. It is a good time to be addicted to mobile tech, and it keeps getting better at a rapid pace.