Monday, February 25, 2008
Cellphone planet!
Literally cellphone planet: "The human race is crossing a line. There is now one cellphone for every two humans on Earth. From essentially zero, we've passed a watershed of more than 3.3 billion active cellphones on a planet of some 6.6 billion humans in about 26 years," the Washington Post reports. "This is the fastest global diffusion of any technology in human history," and the projection is 4 billion cellphones by 2010, moving on to 5 billion afte just a few years beyond that. Why? It's very flexible portable sociability (texting, talking, social networking) - even more portable than IM-ing and Web-based social networking, and look how those two technologies have taken off! The Post cites the view of Arthur Molella, director of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, that sociability is "the essence of the human species."
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Really liked the Wash. Post's subhead, "planet's fastest revolution speaks to the human heart" because to me that is both the opportunity and the cautionary responsibility that we all share as thought leaders in this sphere...
ReplyDeleteCell phones are reaching villages, tribes, and hinterlands in ways we'd once never expected, and in far-flung regions like Kenya, Darfur, Uganda and the Congo, we're able to impart hope, promise, and support through connectivity that's profound.
I'll never forget this past summer being honored to join GWLN.org as a U.S. delegate for "women leaders for the world" as we all sat around a Cisco systems voice enabled hub/pod listening to voices from prior years reach out via cell from the outermost regions of Africa, Asia, Turkey and countries beyond to impart their visions for tomorrow...
Somehow hearing babies crying in the background on the backs of women in remote locales via cellphone added a cogent lucidity to the 20+ leaders gathered 'round this odd Cisco orb to share our leadership goals for impacting the planet...
It was awe-inspiring and enlightening to see that cellphones, ever more than the internet, would take hold as the communications vehicle to impart knowledge,life skills, and vital info for survival in troubled times, (a la Ushahidi.com and the Google Map app mashup)
It's wonderful to see how technology can play a role in impacting the planet in a positive way, albeit in oft times volatile, impromptu, flash mob documentation or citizen journalism style...
Seems to me that it's changed the face of the interaction forevermore, with smart phones, prepaid credits, camera devices, and processing power that once upon a time seemed only surreal.
For better or for worse, it's a cellphone planet, indeed...tel/com is here to stay, and it's only upped the ante of the global dialogue.
I think it's mostly positive, too - because communication is mostly a good, progressive thing, and globally speaking the more the better! My recent connections with people in various countries have confirmed this for me. I love that subhead, too. Thank you for quoting it here. All best,
ReplyDeleteAnne
Speaking of Cellphone planet, now you can find a date from your cell phone at www.MeetMoi.com:
ReplyDeleteMeetMoi.com is a new dating site that hopes to revolutionize social networking with the first truly location-based mobile dating service!
What they are all about:
Are you sick of dating sites that force you to sit behind a computer and introduce you to people who may be miles away? With MeetMoi, computers are left behind and people connect while on the go! So whether it is a bar, an office, or a restaurant, users can open their cell phones and use MeetMoi to browse, chat, flirt, and meet people near them. Using groundbreaking technology, MeetMoi looks for people in a specified location and helps its users find local matches. Since MeetMoi values safety above everything, no one's actual location is ever revealed.