Mobile devices have become a huge, almost essential, part of our lives as Americans over the past decade. Today, anyone over the age of 16 wouldn't be caught dead without a cellphone. And mobile phones, like the rest of the technology in this world, is rapidly growing and evolving. Non-smart phones are almost becoming endangered at this point, forcing mobile phone users to upgrade to smart phones with data plans and internet access, some features users might not even care about. But as we grow and develop our mobile devices towards this new norm, the rest of society will eventually be forced to catch up.
There are some interesting statistics on mobile phones:
As of May 2013:
-91% of American adults own a cellphone
-56% of American adults have a smartphone
-28% of cellphone owners own an Android, 25% own an iPhone, and 4% own a Blackberry
-63% of adult cellphone owners use their phones to go online
-34% of cell Internet users use their phone to access the Internet over other forms of technology (desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.)
Only 8% of Americans do not own a cellphone, and one could assume that these are Americans who are living below the poverty line. However, it is becoming so essential to own a cellphone that I wouldn't be surprised if that 91% increased over the years. Over half of the population of the United States owns a smartphone, meaning they are paying a monthly fee to use the "smart" capabilities of it. This number will definitely increase over the years.
As of September 2013:
-24% of Americans ages 16 and older own an e-reader (Nook, Kindle, etc.)
-35% of Americans ages 16 and older own a tablet
These statistics are surprising and are rapidly increasing over the years. Over my past four years at college I have noticed the age of people with cellphones is getting lower and lower. I've seen twelve year olds with an iPhone walking around at the mall. When I was twelve I didn't even know what a cellphone was. It's very interesting to see where this will take us and how it will affect future generations.
Some other statistical information:
-74% of adults ages 18 and older use their phone for directions or other information based on their current location
-30% of adults ages 18 and older include their location in their social media posts
-12% of smartphone users check-in to certain locations
--39% of these check-in's are used on Facebook, 18% are used on Foursquare, and 14% on Google Plus
In a book by Sherry Turkle titled "Alone Together", she discusses how technology is destroying our ability to have meaningful human relationships with one another. When today's generation of young adults enter the real world and begin adulthood, their impact on society could be huge based on their current means of social interaction, thanks to technology. Does this create risk-free relationships? It seems as if nowadays we prefer voicemail and email over face to face conversations. The more social we becoming online, the less we want to interact in person. Turkle also believes that it is not the tools (cellphones, social media sites, etc.) that are responsible for this behavior, but rather the way we have chosen to utilize them to avoid the harder parts of being human, that is, socializing with one another face-to-face.
Location services are something we witness whenever we use a smartphone or make a post on a social media website. Now, if you're posting a new status or new picture on Facebook, it'll ask if you want to include a location you were at when the event of the post occurred. It seems to have come out of nowhere, and quite frankly it's more dangerous to the poster than entertaining to readers. Another site that was famous for using this location information is called Dodgeball, a location based social networking software provider for mobile users. With this program, users text their current location to the service, and they will receive a list of "crushes" in the nearby area that you could meet up with and get to know. This just screams bad idea, and giving away your location like that to strangers could easily lead to some sort of criminal activity.
We also witness it while using our phones. When using a GPS application on a smartphone, for example, it will prompt you to allow the application to use your current location. This process, called Geotagging, is adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as photos or videos, and is a form of geospatial metadata. It typically consists of latitude and longitude coordinates to pinpoint direct location information from users. Geotagging can be useful at times, and being able to use your cellphone as a GPS device can also save users money, eliminating the need for an entirely new GPS device.
What future do we get in the world of mobile and locative media? New technology ideas can be infinite with what we are using in today's technology world. Augmented reality projects, future geotagging services, and wearable computing are some of the major technological advancements that we can expect to see in the near future of mobile and locative media.
