For most of us there are three things we will not leave the house without; your wallet, your keys, and your mobile phone (not necessarily in that order). Many would rather forget their pants than their cell phone. This small (yet powerful) device has one of the fastest adoption rates of any other technology in our time. Has becoming more dependent on our phones changed our current lives?
The cell phone has evolved to become something so much more. Even its name no longer fits. The first cell phone call was made in 1973 on a Motorola phone that was a little smaller than a shoebox. From that point the race was on and the technology has grown leaps and bounds beyond voice calls. We now use our cell “phones” to do much more than calling. In fact in the United States text messages have surpassed the number of calls made each year (this happened in Europe and Asia years ago).
Beyond voice, the platform has developed text, picture, and video messaging capabilities, then added email and mobile web access. More recently, experiencing the Internet on a mobile device has become less of a watered down version and more like what we experience on our desk and laptop computers. The latest news in the mobile industry is of location-based services, apps, and augmented reality just to name a few.
Our phones have worked their way into almost every part of our lives. We use them as an alarm clock to wake us, as a news service to fill us in on the latest news, traffic, and weather, and a calendar to keep us on schedule. All of this and we haven’t evenfinished our morning coffee yet. Your phone can help you find a location using GPS, recommend a place for lunch, and even encourage you to keep that New Years resolution by urging you to choose a salad over the burger. Then there is the after meal entertainment from the ebook reader, MP3 player, or streaming video options.
We stay in constant contact with our families, friends, and work using applications such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. While staying connected to work may seem like a problem, it really creates new opportunities. We now have the ability to virtually office anywhere. We can now accomplish much of days work on a device smaller than a calculator. Armed with a laptop and a cell phone we can turn any local coffee shop into our office.
Social networks are also getting into the mobile market. We can tweet about the great meeting we just had, accept a new friend request, and update our status all while waiting for a latte. We can pay bills, find movie times, and set your DVR to record your favorite show. If you’re not going to be home anytime soon and just can’t wait, you can have your Slingbox just send your show to your iPhone or Blackberry.
Mobile devices have also changed the media industry. Recent data suggests that there is over 24 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every minute. CNN has begun airing mobile phone reports from what they call “iReporters”. Blogs have become one of the most frequented activities on the web. Mobile technology allows us to be able to witness an event, capture it with your mobile device, add your comments, and post it to the internet all live as it’s happening.
Google has been a part of the mobile industry since the early days of text messaging. Last week Google announced their entrance into the social media arena with their social network called Buzz. An article from Fast Company (http://bit.ly/bm8Avg), shows off how your mobile device has truly become the remote control to life. The article discusses a timeline where your mobile device wakes you up, feeds you info and email on the commute to work, helps you collaborate at work, suggests lunch, and recommends a happy hour to you and some of your friends that it sees are in the neighborhood.
So my question to you is this: How does your “Personal Life Remote” enhance/hinder your life?
Brian Evans
All Things Atomik 