By Brian Villaba
If you are having trouble keeping up with the waves of mobile technology, you better catch up. If you don’t, you will be a dinosaur in a digital world. According to mashable.com, mobile commerce is expected to increase to $31 billion by 2016.
In 2010 mobile commerce was $3 billion. That is more than a 100 percent increase in six years. There are some major implications from growth of that kind. Every single aspect of our lives is going to change. According to Nielsen, only 53 percent of 18 to 24-year-old people use smart phones.
As that number goes up we will see every part of our lives connected to our mobile devices. As this segment of people start making more money and mobile technology becomes more available, the amount of money that is made through mobile technology going to grow dramatically. This does not mean that you must go out and buy a smart phone today.
It isn’t a bad idea, but is more importantly, people must adapt to the everyday changes that these trends will cause. As a consumer, you are going to see every form of media you love move to mobile. It is already happening. You can watch television, listen to the radio, surf the Internet, stream movies or any other kind of multimedia you want on a smart phone.
As a student or employee you are going to see an increase in the speed and efficiency of everything we do. Part of the reason the economy is taking longer than expected to recover is that many jobs are no longer necessary, as companies that embrace technology can do more with less employees.
That primary technology is mobile technology. In 2011 there were more smart phones sold than computers. There are two main evolutionary pressures that are a threat to our well-being as a result of these changes.
First, there are the changes in the way business is done and the types of jobs that are available for college graduates. Some will disappear, others will be created. Second, there is going to be an increase in what is needed to compete.
Those who embrace mobile technology are going to be able to leverage it as a major advantage in the workspace and classroom by doing more with less. Mobile technology can help you do things faster. If you are reading a book on your mobile device and you don’t know the meaning of a word, you can simply tap it and the definition is right there.
If you forget to answer a question for a homework assignment, you can finish it on your mobile device and print it from there too. If you want to get a head start on a difficult class, you can use your mobile device to browse online video classes that are from some of the best schools in the country.
In many cases you can just take your courses online using only your mobile phone. If your note taking leaves something to be desired, you can record your lecture on your mobile device and even have it converted to text so you can read it later.
If you have a presentation due, you can connect your mobile device to an overhead projector so your whole presentation is managed in one place. A specific advantage with mobile is communication on demand. On one device you can email, text message, picture message, social network message, video chat and, of course, call someone the old fashion way. If you are proficient with your mobile device, you can manage an office while you are at the beach working on your tan.
You can do the job of a small team by yourself and do it well. If you are proficient with your mobile technology, you can work, study, read and write faster and better than before. If after all that you need a break, you can kick back and watch or listen to whatever form of media you prefer to keep yourself entertained.
We can get anything from mindless television to spiritual advice. All of that technology is already here. In the future we will look at screens that fit on the inside of a contact lens and mobile devices that can check our blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, and all kinds of medical information.
If you are ready to embrace technology and all the advantages, you will be able to adapt to the major changes to our civilization. Those of us who don’t embrace the change will see a mass extinction of careers.
Charles Darwin summed it up best when he said “…the species that survive are not the strongest or the most intelligent but the most responsive to change.”