Surviving (Thriving?) in our Wireless World
It’s tremendously exciting to read CNET’s A showcase for all things wireless this morning. NVidia is continuing its development for sharper graphics on mobile phones and handhelds; progress continues on mobile television; global shipments of cell phones will climb to 850 million in 2006; 3G continues to spread, etc. etc.
But, (and you know I almost always have a “but” “however” or “and”) what does all this leading/bleeding edge techy excitement mean to most of us? Well, here are a couple of thoughts for you:
1. Our tech luddite days are numbered. No, we don’t necessarily have to know how that NVidia chip works, but we do need to learn how to pick and use the technology tools (wireless and otherwise) as they become available. Of course, part of this will happen organically. Grandmothers routinely use picture phones; our kids grocked IMing immediately; we all somehow caught on to ATMs from day one; and so on. And, yet when it comes applying technology to business, we often develop a cognitive disconnect. We get intimidated by both the details and the costs and end up with Rube Goldberg combinations of whiz-bang technology and little bits of paper, all held together with the stray paper clip and our own unreliable synapses. (We’re still - as Max Hopper, then CIO of American Airlines, observed long ago about automation - “paving the cow path” in many instances.)
2. Nobody is safe. Even sole proprietors and hometown, down-home businesses can no longer say “that doesn’t affect me and my business.” Things we don’t know can in fact hurt us. Recently, I was talking to a local store owner who said, “I don’t have a web site; don’t even own a computer. Nobody can do what I do, anyway.” I nodded politely while thinking of all the places on the Web that I could find everything he sells (and more). Maybe this nice man and his cool store can last for another five or six years, but the pace of change continues to go ever faster. (Those grandmothers with the pic phones are now hip baby-boomers in ripped jeans and funky glasses, surfing the Web for everything from health tips to tribal art.)
As wireless technology continues to spread and improve (and wouldn’t it be cool if we could get consistent service?) - the “anywhere, anytime, anything” access by everyone (who can afford a cell or handheld, which is seemingly everyone, if my trips around town are any indication) will continue to dramatically change our markets, from plumbing to high-tech.
(And, for those of you who are still wondering what 3G means and such - they also provide a helpful glossary of the terms.)
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