When computers were first commercialised, it was envisioned that one day it would be able to fit on a desk. Decades later not only did it fit on a desk but were small enough to fit in a pocket. However, with the power of computing being accessible to all, it was important to draw a distinction on the amounts of power being accessible since that power would be directly proportional to the price one had to pay. This distinction gave rise to the different consumer bases and product categories. The Industrial sector required huge computational power which was provided by large mainframes while research organisations such as NASA had a requirement of even more power which was provided by supercomputers. Although these categories generated huge revenue for the computer manufacturers, they had to target the general public who neither required all the computational power in the world, nor were they ready to pay the price these systems were tagged with. Therefore, far less powerful computers were manufactured for the public who had some basic computational requirement. Their requirement included word processing, casual arcade gaming, accessing the internet, and similar activities.
As the popularity of personal computers grew, so did the requirement of users. Not only did they want a personal computer, but they also wanted a portable one. These computers came to be known as laptops. These battery-operated computers were powerful machines capable of fulfilling most of the computational requirements including programming and development, thus appealing to the professionals. Later, with the inclusion of graphics processing capabilities in personal computers, a new sector of ‘creative professionals’ was born. These creative professionals were those who could edit pictures and videos, generate artwork solely on a computer, edit and produce music on a computer, and much more. Then there was a segment of people who needed far less computational power than the average consumers did. These people were not ready to pay what the average consumers did, and the average consumers were not ready to pay what the professionals or creatives did. Thus, it was important to draw a distinction in the personal computer market again. This gave rise to the monikers ‘Pro’ and ‘lite’.
The ‘pro’ devices were those which could be used by professionals and packed a huge processing power. The ‘lite’ devices were used by those who needed very less processing power to perform some basic computing such as word processing or playing music or surfing the web. Computers became even more accessible to people in the form factor of a smartphone, a tablet, and audio devices. The smartphone industry made these ‘pro’ and ‘lite’ monikers extremely popular. Enter 2020, almost all the smartphones in the market bear the moniker ‘pro’, snd so do some audio devices such as the Apple AirPods Pro. This naming convention is starting to question the stand of the ‘pro’ moniker in the market today.
Starting with computers, the ‘pro’ moniker does make sense. There are numerous desktops and laptops going by the ‘pro’ moniker and serving ‘pro’ purposes as well. These devices pack a huge processing power and insane graphic processing capabilities. However, there is another term for describing these devices. There exist gaming computers which pack as much power as ‘pro’ devices and are used by both professional users and gamers. Now, gaming has transcended to be a professional activity rather than being just a recreational activity. Thus, gaming computers are just another fancy name for ‘pro’ computers. Being much more powerful than the average computers, these also come at a premium price. These devices are future proof and can easily hold up for 4 to 5 years.
The smartphone market is where things seem to be different. Smartphone manufacturers seem to term their flagship devices as ‘pro’ rather than offering features that can be used by a pro. Furthermore, smartphones are far less powerful than laptops or tablets and are only good for personal usage such as calls, texts, social media, mails, etc. Do some professional activities like receiving and sending work emails qualify a phone as a professional device? The same thing applies to earphones termed as ‘pro’. How can an earphone be used by professional music producers? The real questions here are “What professional features can a smartphone offer?” Or “Can a professional work on a smartphone?”
To understand these questions, let us dive deep into the smartphone market and analyse a professional who owns a smartphone. Let us consider a filmmaker who edits films on a computer. Today he did not carry around a camera and thus, must rely on his smartphone to shoot some high-resolution content which he thinks can add value to the film he is currently working on. When done filming, he shares the footage with his colleague, another fellow filmmaker, asking for her critique. Upon receiving a positive response, he transfers the footage to his computer and edits the footage. He then sends the edited footage to the sound engineer working with him who turns on his computer and pairs it with an in-ear sound monitor to work on the footage. When done editing the sound, he sends the footage back to the filmmaker who is now on the move and receives the mail on his tablet rather than his laptop. He reviews the footage and once satisfied, posts a small clip from the raw footage that he previously shot on his phone, on his Instagram account to serve as a teaser for his fans. When done posting, he also looks up some of the comments and messages his fans may have commented on his previous posts and responds to them. When done for the day, he puts on some music on his earphones through his phone to relax. He schedules his reminders for the next day and heads to bed.
From the above scenario, we can see that this filmmaker (a ‘pro’) uses his phone (a very personal device) in his professional life as well and it only makes his workflow much easier. In the meantime, he might also have used his phone for both personal and professional calls and texts. This use case is the perfect example of how the line between personal and professional computers are thinning. This might sound like an antithesis to some people, but these ‘pro’ smartphones pack great cameras, awesome microphones and speakers, amazing displays, and powerful processors to push one’s workflow further rather than being the sole device for a certain workflows. Smartphones are getting smarter by the day and can handle very power-hungry tasks that could only be performed on powerful computers 10 years back. Smartphones, tablets, and earphones serve a wide community of consumers today and these ‘pro’ devices offer new opportunities to the professionals. Pro smartphones aid a professional in improving their workflow rather than being a platform for all their professional activities. Further, being able to manage one’s personal and professional life from a single device is extremely helpful.
As time progresses, we might see many more devices adopt the ‘pro’ moniker and offer many more functionalities to professionals. A ‘pro’ smartwatch might one day be able to help train athletes; a ‘pro’ smart glass might one day be able to help an architect design a 3D model without a traditional computer; a ‘pro’ tablet might be able to completely replace a laptop someday. For now, let us bear witness to the gradual but radical change in the professional computers’ market and adopt new technologies to make our lives more productive and streamlined in ways we never could have imagined.