Understanding the world today without the presence of mobile phones would be impossible; it is perhaps the first object we pack when we leave our homes because it is an indispensable part of our daily lives. The smartphone has completely changed our lives.
In 1973, Motorola presented the prototype of what would become the world's first portable telephone, but it was not until 1983, ten years later, that it managed to put it into circulation at a cost of 4 thousand dollars (the equivalent of about 10.500 dollars today). Dynatac 8000X, As this first phone was called, apart from receiving and making calls, its great innovation was the ability to store up to 30 telephone numbers in its address book and its battery could charge for one hour.
Since then, mobile telephony has advanced rapidly and many models from different companies have circulated in the hands of millions of people around the world. The report The Mobile Economy 2019 It points out that at the end of 2018, there were 5,1 billion unique mobile phone users worldwide, representing 67% of the world's population; while the number of SIM cards used by individuals rose to 7.800 billion, 103% of the world's inhabitants.
These figures reveal the revolution in communications that began with the introduction of the first mobile phone. But it was not until 2007 that the mobile phone ecosystem, and the world as a whole, changed forever with the introduction of the iPhone by Apple.
The first smartphone had, as a great novelty, a touch screen, a single key and a 2 megapixel front camera. Apple called it the Reinvention of the telephone And they were absolutely right. Until then, the market was competing to create ever smaller phones that fulfilled their primary function: voice calls. But the iPhone blew up a market that seemed stagnant.
“The smartphone has changed our lives by adding all the possibilities that come with carrying a powerful computer in your pocket at all times. It has drastically altered the idea of a “mobile phone” supposedly dedicated primarily to communication, and has turned it into a “permanently open window to access any information in the world,” with all that this entails.” says the Spaniard Enrique Dans, professor of Innovation and Technology at IE Business School.
Nowadays, it is impossible to imagine ourselves without the presence of these phones. They condition our daily lives because through them we communicate, schedule appointments, remember to take medications or, simply, they serve as entertainment centers, among other things.
Applications, the great engine of change
But the big revolution came a year after the first smartphone was introduced; in 2008, the Apple App Store was launched, the first SDK for Android was published and the Android Market was inaugurated, which we would later know as Google Play. apps They were the definitive injection to transform the way we communicate.
“The list of applications that have exploded thanks to the smartphone is immense, and is constantly expanding thanks to the idea of «There's an app for that». Viewing the smartphone simply as a device is an incomplete view, because it ignores its value as a platform and the possibility of using its sensors and components as elements in an application of anything. App stores have become one of the most vibrant ecosystems in recent times, and have given rise to such a number of uses that today we are no longer surprised by uses that would have seemed completely extravagant to us just a short time ago.“,” says Professor Dans.
In 2010, large companies dedicated to cell phone service made smartphones more widely used and they became an essential device in our daily lives.
A smartphone is our notebook, diary, calendar, alarm clock, calculator, radio, and data and file storage; it is our personal office.
But it goes further. It is not enough to save the photograph, now it is possible to edit it professionally, the same happens with videos, audios, etc. It is our personal trainer, the intelligent remote control for the appliances in our home and the monitoring center for the security system of our company or home. It is everything we can imagine!
“People who continue to use their smartphone primarily as a phone to their ear rather than a computer in their hand simply haven’t understood anything. The smartphone has become the first platform for accessing information, and that transcends the boundaries of communication.”, concludes Professor Enrique Dans.
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