This week people were talking about the imminent end of the smartphone Era, driven by the launching of Google Glass and Microsoft’s version of the same object.
Mobility
The smartphone Era exists because we are living a moment that mobility is a reality. We are accessing data everywhere from a variety of devices, that could have different sizes, weights, platforms and brands.
It’s difficult to say that Google Glass or other tool will be the future or a fad. It is the behaviour that will determine what kind of object that we will want to use. Devices are tools, not the objective. First we need to understand mobility.
App economy
However, some people say that this smartphone Era can be called as the app economy: we are buying apps for everything. Again, it reflects the people’s desires and emotions. Mobility is not the act to acquire apps. Actually, some people prefer to have one app that combine other apps, promoting an accurate experience and access to relevant information.
I’m not saying that Google Glass is the future. We don’t know what will be people’s desires in the next years. A non-screen experience?
In my opinion, mobility is the way we transform our reality and add more interactions to it. We access data everywhere. It’s the way we use a tool to get more information about our context. The experiences are highlighted and complete. That’s why mobility puts services in the core of the present situation. But again, will smartphones be the right tool for this context?
photo credit: Heads Down Device via photopin (license)