Mobile phones started out as a cordless means of communication. As such, they never really got much attention from the public. Fast forward thirty years; however, these portable devices are the most popular gadget in the world. So, how did this happen?
The introduction of the smartphone combined mobile phone technology with the internet, giving people everything that they could possibly need in one device. As it stands, smartphones are the pinnacle of modern technology. With this great usage comes some important information and statistics that are hard to ignore. This article will try to use these details to create a map of the future to see just what smartphone technology holds in store for us all.
Average Phone Usage
With so much stored in one device, it is easy to see why phone usage is constantly increasing. You can use these devices to send messages, check the weather, play games, watch T.V, and so much more. All these uses combine so that the average person uses their smartphone for around three and a half hours per day. Given that there are only twenty-four hours in a day; and most people require about eight hours of sleep, you can calculate that people are spending almost twenty per cent of their time awake on their mobile devices.
This might not seem so bad in a vacuum. You need to relax, so why not do so by using your smartphone? There have been studies that suggest the radiation from smartphones can lead to certain health complications, such as seizures and high blood pressure. Therefore, more time spent using the smartphone is going to result in more health problems in the future.
Attention Spans
It isn't all bad news when it comes to smartphone usage. There have been continuing rumours that our attention spans have dipped due to our continuing use of smartphones. In fact, almost fifty-one per cent of people believe that the average attention span for an adult has dipped to only eight seconds. While studies have shown that public attention spans have wavered in recent years, it isn't for the reasons that you think.
It is true that smartphones have forced us to live in a fast-paced world. However, technological progression has pushed us to live this way. While our attention spans have dropped, we are able to take in more information at a much quicker rate, improving our performance with these tools. What's more, most people have their smartphone usage to thank for this advancement in our attention capabilities. This all means that smartphones and similar technologies have changed our attention spans to cope with the modern workplace.
Advertising Industry
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, smartphones have changed almost every aspect of modern life. With people using their phones for almost three and a half hours a day, you can see why advertisers would seek to take advantage of that fact.
Marketing is an essential part of running a business, so leaders will need to put their ads where people can see them. That is why companies spent $201 billion on app advertising in 2021. With phones taking up so much ad revenue, it is only safe to assume that T.V ads and other forms of marketing will slowly fall by the wayside. This is key for several reasons. One is that marketing courses and programmes will change to teach students how to market in this space. Secondly, more advertising money will be placed on internet start-ups and websites, rather than T.V stations. Therefore, the internet will soon become the most powerful form of media.
Overpaying For Data
Data is a hot commodity in the smartphone community. The more you have, the longer you can browse your favourite sites or download content. However, this data costs money, and it isn't cheap.
Most phone plans sell you data as part of your contract. This means that you will pay a set fee for a certain amount of data. Unfortunately, not everyone uses the data on their plan, so they are paying good money for something they do not receive. In fact, it is estimated that around seventy-one per cent of customers are overpaying for their data. That is why many people are switching to a value Sim-only network like the ones that can be found via Lebara. These plans allow the user to set their own data package, so they only pay for what they intend to use. While there are certainly downsides to this approach, these types of plans are definitely the way forward for smartphone users. Therefore, phone companies are going to have to re-strategize to stay relevant.
Global Market
One of the biggest questions surrounding any new development on this scale is how it will affect the global market. Mobile phones are sold at an average price of around £300. With 6.3billion subscriptions expected in 2022, it is estimated that the smartphone industry will contribute almost $4.8trillion to the world's economy in 2023.
That is a huge slice of the pie for just one invention, but you can expect big changes to come because of this contribution. This means that countries with a high number of smartphone users will experience more economic growth, which can be used to improve health facilities, schools, and the finance sector. Therefore, smartphone use is directly linked to the next world powers.
Hygiene
When we said that smartphones are going to change everything, we truly meant it. Smartphones are in your hands a lot, which means that everything you touch eventually ends up on your device at some point. As a result, it is estimated that there are nearly seventeen thousand bacteria on the average smartphone screen. To put that into perspective, there are around seven hundred and sixty-four bacteria on one square inch of floor and an equal seventeen thousand bacteria in a kitchen sink. As you can imagine, this level of filth is going to have some repercussions.
The human body is designed to fight off bacteria like this, but your immune system can become overworked. This means that you are more likely to become ill or fatigued from excessive smartphone use. Therefore, there will need to be some serious warnings about smartphone hygiene in the future.
Driving
It is hard to imagine, but it is estimated that around eighty-eight per cent of drivers in the U.S. alone use their smartphones when behind the wheel of a car. Experts can't establish whether these phones are being used as part of the dashboard or in the driver's hands. However, either method can increase the risk of a car accident by four times the normal rate.
In fact, it is estimated that nearly one in four car accidents now comes as a result of people using their phones while driving, and this number is expected to rise. Therefore, developers will need to add a function where the phone shuts down at certain speeds or there will be harsher sentences for people that are caught driving while on their phones.
Conclusion
Society is starting to see some of these changes occur already, and the stats don't lie. Our world is being shaped around these new devices, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.