Everything: Yep, there's an App for That.

    
     Many of us can't even fathom leaving our homes without our mobile phones or devices. Just like our keys, wallets and/or purses are essential to our wellbeing, so is our cellphone! By this point, if you don't have a mobile device, you're probably archaic! (No offense.) Smile.

From candlestick and cradle phones, to payphones, Motorola’s DynaTAC  phone of the 1980s, and smartphones of today, mobile communication has launched a new means of spreading and sharing information.       

 

     Recent research indicates that 3 billion people around the world own a cell phone. According to data from Flurry.com, a site affiliated with Yahoo!, people are spending 127 minutes per day with their smartphones, up from 66 minutes per day, in 2010. This means we spend more time with mobile phones and apps than we do on the web or watch television.

According to Mary Meeker, an investor at Silicon Valley’s  Kleiner Perkins, many of the robust internet usage is coming from countries other than the U.S. Her research concludes that in 2012, there were 2.2 billion global internet users, with the highest being China with 538 million and the least being Argentina, with 28 million. Other countries, with the exception of three – China, India and the U.S., remained in the double-digits.  The U.S. had 244 million internet users. In terms of global smartphone subscribers, China took the lead again with more than 270 million subscribers. The U.S. took second place with 172 million.

The research shows that the onset of iPods, iPads, and Android devices have grown astronomically since 2008, causing the technology industry to explode! Who knew that the telephone would morph into the thin, sleek and unintimidating mobile device it is today? As in the famed words of Sherlock Holmes to his trusty companion Dr. John Watson, "It's elementary, my dear ..."   

 

                                                                   

     I think it’s cool that smartphone and tablet users do not have to leave the comfort of wheverever they are to go into a store and purchase products. As I’ve mentioned before, the smartphone is a one-stop-shop for buying goods and services. Using what Meeker mentioned as “natural user interface,” the smart phone allows consumers to buy groceries and order food, buy airline or concert tickets, stream live videos, pay bills, download paycheck stubs and financial info, deposit checks, and secure a car or home among other things, using the touch of a finger, voice recognition, or gestures in realtime. I personally like that fact that I don't have to buy an Atlas or GPS for traveling, but can download a turn-by-turn GPS on my Droid for free. Where atlases can be outdated and cumbersome, the satellite GPS on one’s smartphone can pin-point specific locations and directions both immediately and accurately.

As we are all aware of, social networking through mobile (or mobile social media), allows users to stay connected wherever they are "without barriers" so to speak. It seems there is no distance between virtual and reality, as various commands are simultaneous.  There is no longer a do-it-yourself attitude because a smartphone and/or wireless device can do whatever you want, when you want, on its own!

Although the above can be exciting, it is also somewhat scary when considering all future possibilities. iPhone already has Siri -- the intelligent talking assistant, and Android devices have an aide of its own. It may sound bogus, but what if advancements are made to the mobile phone, causing it -- and it's user -- to develop feelings for each other? This is starting to sound a lot like the movie, "Her." (weird.)

     There is no doubt that the development of the modern mobile phone and social media have changed the way people communicate, especially on an interpersonal level. When proper ways of communication included telephone calls, emails or even written letters in times past, we as a culture, have instead opted for more impersonal methods, such as texting or tweeting our thoughts and feelings to friends and loved ones.

In his work, “Mobile Telephones and the Disturbance of the Public Sphere (2010),” researcher Rich Ling, Ph.D, demonstrated how ‘mobile telephony’ shapes social norms –what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate, as it pertains to phone etiquette and social interaction. I'm curious to know the direction communication will go in terms of dating relationships. How will the marriage proposal be? What device will be used or deemed appropriate for the occasion?

In the long run, I believe mobile social media will encourage people to be disconnected, rather than seemingly connected. We don’t ever have to interact with an human face again. This concept emphasizes selfishness and discourages altruism. Just like some colleges identify their students by social security

numbers, and prisons locate inmates via personal identification numbers, we all may be known one day by a cellphone number or carrier! It's a stretch, but it's also a possibility. 

As many pioneers of the 20^th century invented breakthrough patents and enterprises to serve humankind, modern advances have caused Americans – and parts of the world, to be individualistic and self-oriented. The attitude seems to be:

"How can this device 'help me' or make 'my life' better? Not, "how will this invention help a whole group of people or future generations?"

 

                                   

 

     I understand the notion of mobile phones being a strategic, beneficial device to connect and unite industrialized and underdeveloped countries. Mobile social media allows underdeveloped countries to be more modernized in education and healthcare, for example, with resources at their disposal. With appropriate content (which is important), the internet and social media will allow more jobs to be created on an international scale, due to the need for innovative ideas and evolving technologies.

Let's be honest. Desktop computers and laptops are losing their popularity, whereas tablets and mobile phones continue to gain momentum across industries. Mobile social media is where the growth is. Millions of people are choosing to use mobile phones as the primary means for social activity, entertainment (games and music), and news.

The "mobile-first" platform allows companies to distribute pivotal content to target audiences more quickly than anywhere else. Speaking of shopping, news of Apple's latest development, "Apple Pay" just flashed across my phone. According to Forbes.com, Apple Pay (launched in October) is set to take the shopping world by storm! The program will enable iPhone users to make online purchases directly through the app. It seems promising, and an effective example to what I meant by using our mobile devices for everything!

As I close today's post, I don't want you to think that I'm this jaded skeptic of all things technology. In fact, technology, especially mobile social media, is very much a part of my everyday life. I just want all of us to consider why technology was created in the first place: to connect and to unite us all in a positive way.