I have been without my MacBook Pro for nearly a fortnight, following the failure of its graphics card. Whilst I am assured by an Apple Authorised Service Point that it is on its way back to me, I have found it fascinating that for 75% of my usual computer-related tasks, I didn’t need a computer!

A few years ago, without a computer, I would have been without access to instant messaging or the World Wide Web. Today, I can still access most social networking sites, the Web and still chat to my buddies without one.

Smartphones are, quite simply, amazing.

I can fulfill most of the social aspects of the Internet solely off my phone. I have Twitter, MSN, Google Talk; if I wanted I could even access Facebook, MySpace or protocols as obscure as IRC!

Whilst it isn’t quite as easy to communicate from a smartphone, you can still do a satisfactory job.

Information and socialising is now amazingly portable.

Whilst smartphones won’t replace laptops or desktops, due to it being impractical to do proper research on a small screen or typing a letter on a small keyboard, I do believe the role of traditional computers is only going to diminish.