Opearating Systems: Case Study 2

Hand-held devices are pocket-sized computing devices, typically having a display screen with touch input and/or miniature keyboard. Hand-held devices have become constructed for use in mobile field management situations to record information in a certain kind of field. They are used to achieve a variety of tasks for increasing efficiency that includes digital notes, sending and receiving invoices, asset management, recording signatures, managing parts and scanning bar codes. Hand-held computers used at work have molded overtime into a variety of form factors, including Smartphones on the low end, hand-held PDA's and Tablet PC's.

This widespread existence of hand-held devices is used for many people, including a certain work or job like the doctors as medical practitioners and a supermarket manager. Supermarket managers are responsible for the operation of the unit, all departments, sanitation standards, performance results, expense control and providing direction, motivation, feedback, and leadership to his/her team. In this competitive world of technological advancement that dictates the growth of every business; hand-held devices are very much needed by these supermarket managers. The innovation of hand-held devices like Tablet PC's and iPad will loosen the burden in checking stocks, inventory, cash management, time and attendance, price verification and many more. In a scenario, a store manager using iPad (as an example) and a customer that is looking for a price of a product. Since the customer is in rush, he can't find the prize tag or list of product prizes in the shelf

and so he decided to ask the store manager that is equipped with hand-held devices. In a bit, the manager can check the prizes with the iPad that is programmed with their central database for its price and so the manager can give the real-time prize of that specific product.

Another scenario is when inventory of stocks. Typical way of inventory is a huge task with brain-cracking job. By using Tablet PC, it is just a click and touch to check and manipulate the stock to the database of the store's system. Truly, these hand-held devices are stuffs to improve the job of a supermarket manager to perform as its best with the aid of iPad's and Tablet PC's. On the other hand, doctors are those who practice the profession of medicines, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, or injury. Like any professions in the world, doctors needed this hand held devices in their field of work. In a scenario, in which a doctor wants to take some kind of rest in a far place to unwind his busy being. However, being replenished by the spirit of vacation, he knew he had left his patients back at the hospital in good hands. He just felt the need, as doctors often do, to check and see how they were doing. Indeed, in contrast to common perception to doctors as attached to their pens and clipboards - now they can be equipped with this new technology that can meet their business needs or improve the quality and safety of their patient. Hand-held devices, like Smartphones and Windows Phone 7, as an example, can be convenient stuffs for taking notes, accessing information, and managing their schedules while making patient rounds. Like any other information workers, doctors are required to access to current information about diseases, medications, laboratory and imaging data, and patient histories to determine the most appropriate treatment, this could be done with the help of this devices simply with their one hand.

It is no surprise, then, that the healthcare and supermarket managers and in any industry have emerged as one of leading users of hand-held and wireless devices. The challenge remains to develop specific kinds of hand-held devices that meet the complex requirements of supermarket managers and healthcare practitioners.