Gizmos' functions to merge, expert says

ATLANTA - Laptop computers will soon be more like cell phones, and mobile phones will do more computing as the coming types of high-tech equipment blur together, according to industry executives.

But there is the matter of a prolonged recession to overcome first. Most sessions at the Supercomm convention in Atlanta this week tend to begin with an expert offering reasons for the economic downturn and a prescription for ending it.

"We've created sort of an interesting mess in this industry," said Craig Barrett, the president of Intel Corp. "I don't have a better word for it than mess."

Mr. Barrett, keynote speaker for the 50,000 engineers and executives attending the conference Tuesday morning, said the computer and Internet industries are suffering a rash of business failures because managers ignored their customers. Instead of launching products and services because customers were willing to pay for them to fill a need or desire, he said, most companies created products just because they could, certain that customers would recognize a cool application once they saw it.

The dynamic former professor urged his colleagues to shift their focus to selling what customers want to buy. Then he predicted that would result in quicker Internet connections capable of transmitting more information and entertainment.

He also predicted that the salvation of the industry would come through the development of devices that combine the functions of computers, cell phones and televisions - a concept called convergence of functions.

Even before he spoke, executives from two dozen companies had scheduled a luncheon news conference to announce the establishment of a cooperative effort to work out some of the industry's problems, including determining what customers want. The Service Creation Community will survey consumers, college professors and even reporters about their wants to help refocus the industry.