In past years, having a mobile phone with a camera that could take adequate photos was already considered as having a smartphone. These days, we have phones that have quad-cores that could rival a lower end computer and phone cameras that have more megapixels than actual cameras. Today’s smartphone is already capable of the most amazing feats of technology, and with companies coming out with new models at a steady pace, there will come a time when there is nothing a smartphone will be unable to do.
The Past
Smartphones in previous years were one of two things: bulky or expensive. Some were a combination of both. They were only used by diehard technology fans, businessmen, or people who had some spare cash to burn. Yes, they had their fair share of features but in hindsight, were still rather limited. Smartphones are high end mobile phones and were first launched by IBM in 1992. If you look at a smartphone from four to five years ago, you will find that has already been rendered obsolete. Today’s phones are now optimized for business and personal purposes, sleekly designed and packed with a whole host of features that we could have never thought possible. The original goal of mobile phone manufacturers was to rival the landline phone but now, they are even seen as threats towards camera makers, and some computer companies. When 3G was already considered cutting edge, 4G has arrived and made 3G yesterday’s news.
The Present
Among mobile phone users, you will be hard pressed to find one that still has the more traditional phone that is mainly used for calling and sending text messages; most everyone has a smartphone these days. Because of this demand, new models come out at such a rapid pace that the phone you buy last year could be obsolete in six months. Phones have gotten smaller and thinner and with the decrease in mass came the increase in functionality. We can do practically everything on our smartphone such as create presentations, watch movies, and other things outside the original realm of communications devices.
Mobile phones are getting progressively smarter since the manufacturers seem to like pushing the envelope in terms of what a phone can do. Also, in such a competitive market, these companies have to find ways to outdo their rivals. In the next few years, it may no longer be farfetched to think that you may be talking to someone’s projected image on your smartphone while using a phone service like RingCentral, play games that were once exclusive to gaming consoles, and many other things. In the future, we might find our smartphones to be our constant companions that alert us when it is time to sleep or pay your bills for you. Some manufacturers are even entertaining the idea of having your smartphone make your coffee.
It has been said that the smarter our phones get, the dumber we get but this does not necessarily have to be the case. Smartphones are there to make our lives easier and not to turn us into unproductive lumps in case it is taken away. We must also adapt so that our phones do not outsmart us.