SERIOUS WONDER | R.I.P. Smartphone

Editor’s Note: This article is a complimentary opinion piece on ‘Wearable Technology and the Death of the Smartphone‘ by Gray Scott.

[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”B00894K248″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zBgZ%2BWDLL._SL160_.jpg” width=”84″]The mobile phone was a ‘disruptive technology‘ that affected the pager industry. Since rendering the pager obsolete, the mobile phone has continued to evolve, moving from being just an on-the-go wireless to an all-in-one personal device that utilizes the internet, various applications, listen to the radio, take pictures, record videos and so on.

The mobile phone has now evolved into the smart phone that meets more than the exhaustive communication needs of the user. However, this continued evolution will not prevent the next disruptive technology, the wearable computer, from disrupting the smart phone industry, as the mobile phone did the pager industry.

Google will soon commercialize its version of the wearable compter, Google Glass, to the masses. It features a head-mounted display (HMD) to be worn like a pair of glasses by its users. Apple is also likely to soon release a wearable computer in the form of a smart watch which has already been dubbed by many as the “iWatch”.

[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”B007VG6ZC8″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41qjBBi-0NL._SL160_.jpg” width=”160″]There are applications we use on our smartphones today that we use to bypass the conventional telephone line for communication, such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype or even Facebook chat that we can utilize on the go. Soon, voice operation systems that will be perfected and embedded as well into the various wearable computers. At that point, competing tech companies will avail to us once Google and Apple have gotten into the fray and tested the market. You will be able to communicate with anyone, anywhere without need for a phone line.

Once brainwave-computing is perfected, and eventually embedded into the wearable computers, we will be communicating telepathically, without even the use of voice. When that happens, conventional phone lines will truly become obsolete. Text Messaging will also no longer be needed, as we would be able to relay voice messages to recipients over the internet using though, even if the receiver is not available at that time.

[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”B0080UVHJU” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31zTuokzAlL._SL160_.jpg” width=”160″]Ever wondered why some telecommunication companies have been raising prices for and revising data plans as part of their service packages in some countries? They know that the conventional phone line is under threat, and the internet is going to be the new main income stream for them. Paradoxically, smartphones have created a threat to the conventional phone line, and in turn, wearable computers will render the smartphones obsolete. The applications that were born with the advent of the smartphones however, will live on with the wearable computers.

As the wearable computer evolves into a virtually indestructible permanent companion that follows the owner wherever he or she goes, acting as a master-controller for the internet of things around, the user will need no other communication or computing device.

[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”1466343826″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519o4cgGnbL._SL160_.jpg” width=”128″]In the meantime, the good news for smartphone manufacturers is that it will take some time for the Wearable Computers to supplant smartphones altogether. Therefore, smartphones are still going to sell for current the period, until wearable computers are perfected and evolve. However, within the natural lifespans of contemporary generations, it is likely that the smartphone will earn its well deserved spot in the technological history museum.

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Main Image Source: Flickr

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July 27, 2013 By Harish Shah

About the author

Harish Shah is the Founder and Sole-Proprietor of Stratserv Consultancy. He is a spirited young entrepreneur and a strategist that can be described as a visionary, a futurist or a futurologist. Harish developed a passion for studying, understanding, appreciating and embracing the future while he was an undergraduate at The University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Triple Majors in Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations and Management. After graduating from UWA with a distinction average in each of his three majors, Harish returned to his native Singapore, where his formal education stopped, but his passion for the study of the future continued to grow. Currently Harish writes and maintains two Futurist blogs that are reflective of his ongoing research or his work; Visioning 2050 and Singapore Futurist. Besides writing on his personal blogs, Harish contributes articles to Futurist websites or portals around the world. He is currently contributing as a writer to Futurista (Europe), Serious Wonder (North America) and India Future Society (Asia). Apart from writing for the India Future Society, Harish is also its International Member. In the past, Harish has also contributed to The Futurist. Harish is a seasoned strategic negotiator and accustomed to complex negotiations. He is a powerful speaker and presenter with a subtle sense of humour. Prior to entrepreneurship, Harish has worked as a HR consultant to some of the world's top corporations, he has sold industrial outsourcing services, managed learning & development, been involved in rehabilitative work with a governmental organisation and worked in a secreterial firm. He is also a trained journalist. Apart from Stratserv Consultancy, Harish is also the Sole-Proprietor of Mind Evolution, a Coaching and Motivational Training business