I read somewhere previously that more people in the world own a phone than a tooth brush, and thought this was such an incredible visual description of the striking contrast of social inequality in the 21st century.
This piece from the Economist alludes to that reality and its impact further which reminded me of how little time we spend thinking about what our lives will be like in 10, 20 years to come.
Whilst so much of it is positive, I do worry about how this will affect our own sense of purpose and the responsibility we all share to leave our communities a better place after we have left the planet.
So I would like to see us embrace technology more to help solve many of our social problems. Thames Valley Police already provide victims of potential domestic abuse with special handsets which work at the touch of any button to call for help.
Do you have any ideas of other applications that could meet social needs in the future?
Let it ring a little longer By 2020, something like 80% of adults will own a smartphone connected to this remarkable global resource. If they are anything like today’s Europeans and Americans, who are leading in these matters, they will use them for about two hours a day; if they are like today’s European and American teenagers they will use them more than that. The idea that the natural place to find a computer is on a desk—let alone, before that, in a basement—will be long forgotten. Like the book, the clock and the internal combustion engine before it, the smartphone is changing the way people relate to each other and the world around them.
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