It was about 25 years ago shortly after mobile phones the size of a small apartment blocks had emerged as the latest technology device, that I had one installed in my car.
I remember making my first phone call to my grandfather as I made my way to an appointment (who in his past life had delivered milk by horse and cart). His amazement to receive a phone call from the other side of the country with no cords attached was palapable.
There is a quote from the science fiction writer most famous for the novel “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Arthur C Clarke (born in 1917) which resonates with me.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
In 2011 my observation and use of the magic of technology continues to surprise and enchant me whether it be the new iPad or flying at 40,000 feet sipping wine while the world flashes below at 600 mph with 200 people ensconced in a metal tube with the outside temperature hovering at -40 degrees.
Apple created the iPhone recently which is a truly magical device that with its big brother the iPad is changing our lives with intuitive and creative mobile devices. The world of mobile cannot be ignored and its implications for the world of commerce, extending and leveraging human relationships and communications are a significant.
In the mobile ecosystem there is another major player that cannot be ignored and that is Google with its Android phone and operating system that is proving to be a serious competitor to Apple’s domination in the smart phone market.
Mobile marketing and commerce is starting to deliver personalized information about
- Where you are
- What you could do there right now
That can enhance our lives and revolutionize the way we work, play and buy.
But to realize that vision and to deliver such a service at scale (according to an article in the Harvard Business Review by Eric Schmit the CEO of Google) there needs to be three key elements designed, developed and distributed.
- Developing the underlying fast networks. These will be 8-to-10- megabit networks, roughly 10 times what we have today, which will usher in new and creative applications, mostly entertainment and social, for these phone platforms.
- Development of mobile money. Phones, as we know, are used as banks in many poorer parts of the world—and modern technology means that their use as financial tools can go much further than that.
- Increase the availability of inexpensive smartphones in the poorest parts of the world.
Google’s vision is that literally a billion people will be getting inexpensive, browser-based touchscreen phones over the next few years.
How do you think an additional billion people being added to the the web and mobile world in a few short years will do to increased awareness of local and global information and their education?
This world of magic continues to unfold.
Image by netzkobold