The Future of Mobile Technology: Where Do We Go From Here?

The millennial generation within their lifetime have seen the first cellular car phone and the brick mobile phone. Through the 90's we saw the internet come about (AOL and Netscape), cell phones get smaller, Apple release its first MAC computer, Windows operating systems emerge and take off, and computers get smaller. Cell phones and computers became something not as a status symbol, but common place in middle America as time went on.

We then all survived Y2K and then Apple released the first iPod and Motorola released the Razor. Then the game changer: smart phones with touch screens and mobile technology. The iPhone, then iPod touch, then tablets, then the Galaxy S Series, and the Motorola Droid, etc. At first Smart phones were thick and bulky, but then got thinner and faster and more and more advanced/cool features, with better cameras, and better HD screen resolution. Per a documentary on the Nat Geo channel titled "1980's: The Decade That Made Us," today's smart phones are more powerful than most computers were in the 80's.

In recent years as the number of mobile devices skyrocketed, more users are doing Internet searches on their phone/tablet than on desktop, mainly because of the convenience. We have banking apps, and you can check weather/news/sports, watch TV (by the way Netflix watchers now exceed TV users), play games, control the temperature of your house, write/view e-mails (personal/work), conduct online meetings called webinars, etc. Within the last couple of years we have seen Back To The Future II, Demolition man, and Star Trek type wearable technology now with wearable glasses and watches. We even have touch screens in cars now with apps that integrate with your phone (bluetooth) that can read your texts/voicemail/emails and give you turn by turn directions. Today, we are never without being within arm's reach of a device that lets us be connected with what's going on in all aspects of our life whether we are on vacation, in traffic, in a hotel, at the pool, at a ball game, or in a restaurant. If a major event is happening, we are instantly notified and anyone can get a hold us (think about the use of pagers 15 years ago and think of how ridiculous that sounds today now that we have texting).

This brief flashback of the last 35+ years leads me to the question: Where do we go from here? The iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 are the latest mobile phone releases within the last year, and really did not have any ground breaking improvements or "wow" moments that were game changers.

Where technology goes from here will affect the way all parts of a business operate, in all industries, and will affect users globally, as the over 7 billion people in the world, over 2 billion have mobile devices. How people make reservations for dinner, or communicate, or stay in touch, work, follow the news/sports/weather, even watch TV/movies, play games have all been affected by mobile technology and have arguably actually started to change Human behavior as a species.

My thoughts about the future are below. What are yours?

1. Wearable technology will continue to get better and more adopted (glasses, sunglasses, watches, maybe clothing, or even surgically implanted (Google search based on thoughts, but that just sounds creepy).
2.  Desktop usage will continue to dwindle as mobile devices continue to get better and better, and more users start to do desktop tasks on tablets (banking, purchases, work related tasks, etc.)
3. Users having more than one mobile device will continue to increase. Meaning: users will have a smart phone, a tablet computer, and a piece of wearable technology, most likely all of the same brand. For example, today someone could have the Galaxy S6 phone, Samsung Galaxy 2014 Note, Samsung Gear Watch, and Samsung Smart TV. Or likewise have an all Apple house hold, or even a combination of different operating systems (iOS vs Droid), or brands (Samsung vs. HTC). A family of four could have 4 smart phones, 4 tablets, and say 2 or 3 smart TV's, and 4 smart watches....a household of 4 could have upwards of 10 or more mobile devices.
4. The Moon race of the 1960's made us solve problems in sending a human to the moon and returning him to Earth safely. We had to take large technology, the size of a room, and shrink it down to the size of desk cubical, or smaller, and in the last 35 years, we have taken a desktop sized computer of the 80s, and turned it into something that fits in your pocket today and is more powerful. The moon race led to advances in medicine and technology that eventually made it into our homes.

Now we have our eyes set on Mars and are currently building and testing technology that will allow humans to travel to Mars and beyond within our life time. Thought of the day: the first humans who will travel to Mars are likely already born. The challenge of going to Mars and beyond creates new problems, which will lead to new innovations and technology that will eventually make it to the mainstream. In my opinion, putting a Human on Mars will be extremely important over the next decades.

Over 30 years ago the technology of today was considered science fiction and could only be realized in TV/movies (small devices that you can see the other person and talk to them and it fits in your packet or wear on your wrist....yeah right!).

Advances in technology will continue to accelerate and businesses will need to quickly adapt. The businesses that will succeed are the ones that will continue to innovate within their industry with new technology. Instead of falling in line with the rest of the crowd and maintain the status quo, the businesses that will thrive will be the ones who dare to take a risk and be different. They will be the "First" when creatively using new technology to help their customers and be that "Organization" that everyone else wants to be.

Most importantly, either decades ago or today, regardless of technology, businesses MUST KNOW THY CUSTOMER'S. Technology is used differently based on industry and customers, and businesses will need to adapt to whatever new technology comes out in a way that best serves their customer demographic and not just for the sake of using the latest technology.

Written by

Dan Lauer