The thesis of a new article by ZDNet's Mike Kanellos is that a growing number of companies are thinking about replacing - rather than augmenting - their field staff's notebook computers with BlackBerry and similar devices.

Kanellos quotes several corporate users as leaning toward this model. For overall perspective, he quotes Stanford University Institute of Design professor David Kelley.

Kelley knows a thing or two about design. He's a co-founder of the design firm Ideo.

"I don't carry a laptop anymore," Kelley tells Kanellos, "because my phone is sophisticated enough."

As far as Kanellos' take on things:

"The push behind the trend comes from the confluence of several factors," he writes. "Handhelds have become more sophisticated and can handle most basic tasks. Laptops are pricier and need to be replaced fairly often. People have gotten used to taking care of business on handhelds."