Remember the days of dialing the rotary telephone? Have memories of sitting down and writing a distant relative or friend a letter, with a pen, finding a stamp, and placing it the mailbox? Those days are far removed from where we find ourselves today. Welcome to the age of instant information distribution. So much of our information is created, consumed, and distributed from mobile devices.
A majority of American households have at least one mobile phone. Many have notebook computers. Over the past few years, the miniaturized form-factor and capability of mobile devices has brought the power of communication and content creation to the masses, all in a device that can easily fit into a front pocket. With increased portability, we've seen an incredible surge of amateur journalists, the ability to break news instantly, and a constant record of visual events that occur around us.
An event that comes to mind that clearly illustrates this trend is the horrific terrorist events that occurred in Mumbai, India from November 26th through 29th in 2008. Moments after the first shots of the attack were fired, Twitter users in India were using the micro-blogging service to send eyewitness accounts of the unfolding events. As tragic as these events were, we can gather that it was the general populous, using commonly available mobile technology and social media services that broke the story. Mobile users were able to report the news more effectively than the mainstream media. This clearly illustrates how mobile platforms and services have allowed us to make the world a smaller place, and in many regards, spurn global concern for events that were once before considered to be so distant.
With the announcement of the Apple iPhone4 device, as well as devices featuring the ever-evolving Google Android OS, users can now hold face-to-face videoconferences with users across the globe, with a device that fits in the palm of your hand. This "Jetsons" technology has finally become a reality, and it is just the beginning of the convergences we will see in the future.
The ability to record high definition video in a small, simple form factor was perfected by the Pure Digital FlipVideo devices. These devices have existed for a couple of years, but were limited strictly to recording audio and video. The smartphones available today can do everything the FlipVideo and its competitors can do, but can also make phone calls, browse the web, as well as run any of the thousands of currently available mobile applications. The smartphones are now our media players, affording us the ability to take feature films, television shows, photo collections, and thousands of songs with us on the go. The recently announced iPhone4 can record high definition video as well as give users the ability to edit the video on their phone, and then upload that video to YouTube with the push of one button.
We've been living in a brave new world for quite sometime, but mobile technologies are continuing to offer consumers the ability to distribute massive amounts of information and media. This paradigm-shift has afforded us the ability to on many occasions bypass mainstream corporate media as a source for quality news, information, and media.
