How has Mobile Technology Changed the World?

Over the last decade or so, mobile phones, tablets, notebooks and various other mobile devices have become smaller, sleeker and smarter. From making a call or text to scanning documents or collaborating with co-workers, there is no doubt we are completely surrounded by mobile devices. Having said that the introduction of mobile technology has raised our living standards, but at the same time created heavy dependency on mobile technology. Excessive usage has been known to lead to serious issues like stress, anxiety, memory loss, sleeping disorder etc.

We recently interviewed some really cool people who were kind enough to give us their time. We asked the question “How do you think mobile technology has changed the world?” They came back with the amazing commentary below. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

Who did we Interview?

              Adi Abdurab               Jake Basford              April Madden

How has mobile technology changed the world?

 Adi Abdurab  – Contributing Editor, Addictivetips.com

Adi Adurab - Pro Views - How Mobile Technology has Changed the World ?

Writer, Gamer, Photographer, Uber-Techie and the guy who wrote the Peabody Award Winning show, Burka Avenger.

What did Adi say?

Everyone fully appreciates all the benefits technology have granted us, but, we have to acknowledge the downsides as well. We have started lowering expectations of our own brains by relegating simple things like memorization and routines to the whims of our schedule apps. As much as they help, they should not be considered viable replacements for our biological apparatus.

 

Jake Basfordjake basford

Jake’s experience is mostly in the fields of media, PR, and press, specifically within the third and LGBT sectors. At present, I work as the Media Coordinator and Fundraiser for a Castle Preservation Trust and am the Geek Editor for Vada Magazine, as well as a freelance writer.

In Five years time, Jake would like to be living in London and working in a PR/press role full-time, maybe with a paid magazine column, and a cat. Possibly even a partner.

What did Jake say?

Mobile technology hasn’t changed the world – people have been taking advantage of technological options to become more mobile with technology, and this has led increased mobility in this area. Like the creation of the Blackberry as a business tool in the early 00s, smartphones were created after it became apparent that they would sell well and easily. Couple this with a need for understandable technology that anyone could use easily, and there is no explanation necessary for why mobile technology has become one of the biggest market penetrators in the western world.

The reaction to this has been varied from panics over the security of information, to the ability for videos to be shot, produced, edited and distributed without having to ever go into a studio. If anything, therefore, mobile technology has sped up advances of tech that would otherwise be considered less marketable.

April Madden – Editor, Android Magazine

How has Mobile Technology Changed the World ?

I trained as an art historian, changed course completely and became a tech journalist; now I work on Corel Painter as a kind of art/tech journalist thing. What oxymoron, where?

What did April say?

It’s important to remember that the things that we take for granted today, like our smartphones and the sheer amount of things we can do online with them, were once the stuff of cyberpunk science fiction. In the Eighties and Nineties, technologists and anthropologists alike wrote think pieces imagining things like ‘calm technology’ – the idea of device interaction occurring in the background or in our peripheral vision, and how it would one day revolutionize our lives. It sounded out there at the time, but it’s exactly what the latest Samsung phone does right now when its edge notifications quietly and colorfully inform us we’ve got an email or text. When Neal Stephenson wrote his seminal novel Snow Crash, he included the idea of a program called Earth, which let users pan around and zoom in on a virtual globe of satellite imagery. Back then it was mind-blowing to think of a program being able to do that, but today Google Earth and Maps are built

When Neal Stephenson wrote his seminal novel Snow Crash, he included the idea of a program called Earth, which let users pan around and zoom in on a virtual globe of satellite imagery. Back then it was mind-blowing to think of a program being able to do that, but today Google Earth and Maps are built into the devices we carry around with us and are so common we don’t think twice about using them in our everyday lives – they’re just utilities. It’s like satellites – in 1945 they were a crazy idea that a sci-fi author found interesting enough to write to a magazine about; today we use them as the backbone of our entire telecommunications network. YouTube is so ubiquitous that we often forget that it only launched in 2005. And that’s the ultimate test of whether a technology has changed our lives – has what was once game-changing merged into the background and become an essential, unremarked part of the fabric of living?

YouTube is so ubiquitous that we often forget that it only launched in 2005. And that’s the ultimate test of whether a technology has changed our lives – has what was once game-changing merged into the background and become an essential, unremarked part of the fabric of living?

How-Mobile-Technology-changed-The-World

What do we think?

Since the first mobile device was invented on April 3, 1973, to now, mobile technology has changed tremendously and has opened up the door for new technology across all mobile devices. Thus, giving rise to an era when more and more mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, notebooks etc. are being introduced to the market and mobile devices are becoming more mobile than ever before. Can you remember back to the Apple Keynote of 2007 when the new iPhone was released? Where were you? What were you doing? What about the Nokia 3210 with it’s interchangeable covers?

I digress. Consequently, the changes in mobile technology have given birth to an age of modernization where people with smartphones (and devices) seem way ‘cooler’ and trendy than the people without. Mobile tech is able to help us now with a whole host of things that we wouldn’t have dreamed to be conceivable 30 years ago like; note-taking and memorizing, managing to-do lists, collaborating with co-workers, file sharing, scanning documents, paying bills etc. In addition to those simple actions, we move onto more complex actions like monitoring your heart rate, tracking your footsteps, calculating calories burned after various different types of exercise to even guiding you on what actions you need to perform next? – the influence of mobile technology is dramatic and on a global scale.

However looking at the negative side very quickly, the latest changes in mobiles is making us lazy. Do we possess the map reading skills that are parents once did because we all use Google maps? What about simple arithmetic? When was the last time you stepped foot into a library? What happens when the battery runs out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Links to other interviews

Meet Author

Rahul Dubey

Rahul is a tech geek, author, blogger, podcaster, YouTuber and a keen learner. Rahul enjoys learning, testing, and messing up with new tips and tricks, apps, and gadgets. He has been writing for several years and has even contributed to popular Magazines like Huffington Post. When he is not making this site better or shooting videos for TechReviewPro YouTube channel, you can find him helping people in groups, forums, and private communities. He is very down to earth person and believes in Karma, hence he never misses an opportunity to help others. Got a query? Ask him via Email: [email protected]

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