The future of computing

PERHAPS you have noticed it already, that some of your contacts are already replying to your emails and are posting private messages in social networking sites from their mobile phones.

What is even more significant is that some of them are already using online voice messaging instead of the usual telephone calls. Because of these shifts in consumer behavior, some people are already asking how the telecom companies could still make money if more customers will be sending less text messages and will be making lesser telephone calls.

The answer to that is very simple. The telecom companies will now be making money from data services instead of voice and text services.

First of all, I would like to point out that only the smartphones (the technology, not the brand) are capable of online voice messaging and social networking, and not the old legacy phones. The latter are only capable of text messages and the usual telephones even if these are newer models.

As of last count however, it is estimated that about half of the units that are already in use (not counting those that are not being actively used) are already smart phones.

Even if we say for the sake of argument that not all owners of smartphones are using their units for online voice messaging and social networking, it could already be said that there are now more consumers now who are agile because of their smartphones than before.

Only a few years back, the term “mobile messaging” might have been prevalent, but nowadays, the term “mobile computing” is being used more frequently. That shift has been made possible by the fact that the new smartphones could now function as “mobile computers” for all intents and purposes.

Whenever I am asked what it is that makes a device a “computer”, I say that any device that has a keyboard (or a keypad), a display and a processor is a “computer”. If you agree with that definition, then a smartphone could already be considered as a “computer”. In that same sense, even an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) could be considered as a “computer”.

I used to write about the difference between a web browser and a mobile app. I used to say that browsers are capable of activating the applications within a website, whereas an app is native to a smartphone. Nowadays however, it seems that the differences between the two are fast disappearing.

While the apparent overlaps between the two are still not clear, it is clear that many mobile apps have morphed into becoming “mobile browsers”. What is also clear is that some mobile apps that are labelled as such are actually browsers that have been customized so that these would be more compatible with the smaller smartphone display screens.

In the same way that most airline passengers would not bother to understand the principles of aerodynamics, most customers would not care to understand the difference between a browser and an app.

In the same way that airline passengers would only care about travelling from one airport to another, most customers would only care about moving from one website to another. Not that I would want to make it sound more complicated, but some mobile apps now may already be directing you from one website to another, in such a way that these apps may already be functioning already as browsers. For all we know, the difference between the two might have already disappeared.

Not that anyone still cares, but the difference between a “Personal Communications Device” and a “Personal Computing Device” might have also disappeared. Obviously, the earlier PCDs could only do communications functions, whereas the newer PCDs could already perform any computing task.

For that matter, there are smartphones now that are as big as tablets, and vice-versa. The appearances could deceive you, because the only real difference between the two is that one has a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card while the other does not. For all intents and purposes, it could be said that the newer PCDs are in effect Personal Computers (PCs) that have become smaller and thinner.

Not too long ago, it was the dream of many technology advocates to have the so called $300 computer. Hands down, it could already be said that that dream has become real, because there are smartphones now that are being sold for less than $100.

While some customers may not have realized that their smartphone is already in effect a computer, it could already be said that the future of computing is in mobile computing. Even if it could be said that content is king, it could not be denied that in the end, what matters most is the number of devices that are in the hands of users, devices that could be used to access the content from anywhere at any time.

Perhaps it would still take a few more years before we could fully realize that smartphones will be among the countless numbers of devices that will comprise the so called “Internet of Things” (IOT), devices that will create or collect data that will add to the “Big Data” in the “Internet Cloud”.

IOT could take on many forms such as chips and sensors or even droids and drones, but what is important is that these devices will supposedly make our lives better. To some extent, it could be said that “Big Data” will become bigger, and the “Internet Cloud” will become broader. The only challenge now is how to make technology work better for more people./PN