Developing a successful 'gadget strategy'

(CNN) -- Petr Matous, a grad student at the University of Tokyo, is an unlikely character. First off, he excels in sumo wrestling -- despite having grown up in the Czech Republic and being rather thin.

Even more unlikely, though, is this: He survives in Tokyo without a cell phone.

"I simply fix the time and place and try not be delayed," he says, "as it worked for everyone just 10 years ago."

It certainly does not work like that today for most Tokyo-ites, who navigate toward each other through crowds via cell phone calls. A common tactic is to snap a picture of an overhead sign with a camera phone and then send it to a friend's phone -- so they can spot your location in the masses.

For most developed-world urbanites, a gadget strategy is called for: How many gadgets should we have, and when should we take them with us? And a key question increasingly is: Can I get away with having just one?

Sales of converged devices are soaring. In the Asia-Pacific region, for instance, 10.7 million smart mobile devices were shipped during the first quarter, according to the research consultancy Canalys -- that's a 40 percent year-on-year rise

Consider Nokia's N95 "phone." Its built-in five-megapixel camera surpasses some stand-alone snappers in resolution, and it can record video at near-DVD quality. Its Global Positioning System receiver can show where you are on an on-screen map. Its built-in wi-fi can connect you to the Internet. And, needless to say, it plays MP3 music and other media files.

But impressive specs aside, are such devices satisfying as, say, a camera replacement for most people? Probably not, suggests Ken Dulaney, an analyst with research firm Gartner.

Humans, he observes, are not amorphous: Each of our senses is tied to a unique human feature, and devices are crafted to adapt to those particular features.

"I can make a phone, but it may not be good at taking pictures or typing on -- but it's great to put up to my ear," he says. "Cameras are designed a certain way because 100-plus years have taught us how to design them."

For this reason, he says, "many users will own and carry several devices because it gives them extra power and can adapt to specific needs."

Research firm IDC recently polled people who own both a music phone and an MP3 player. The majority of respondents continue to use their stand-alone players despite owning the music phone. The most cited reason was simply "better sound quality."

"Convergence necessarily implies a trade-off to an extent," notes IDC analyst Aloysius Choong.

Scott C. Des Jardins, a compliance manager based in Ho Chi Minh City, has a basic phone for talking, an iPod for music, and a camera for taking photos. He usually carries the first two around with him.

His gadget strategy might not be perfect, but for most the part he's happy with it.

"The trade-off is having more than one gadget and higher total costs," he says. But "the benefit is quality of photos, reliability of my phone, and the ability to have all my music with me."

This writer carries one device that does nearly everything -- nothing superbly, but it's usually good enough. The strategy leaves me vulnerable if my battery runs out -- or I lose the device -- but I like having everything in a tiny form that fits comfortably in my pocket.

As for Matous, the improbable Czech sumo wrestler who shuns cell phones, even he has a gadget strategy. He sometimes carries around a laptop computer, he admits -- at least when he's too busy not to.

"When I need to check something or send out something," he says, "I can hook up to the wireless Internet in the city."

What's really improbable, then, is probably this: a life free of gadgets -- underscoring the need for a gadget strategy. E-mail to a friend

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