The mobile device is a transmission technology that uses radio wave propagation to function. Scanning and cellularization initiated the explosion of mobile devices in 2000: cell phones, personal communication services, notepads and pagers, GPS and air-ground communications (trucks, police, ambulance, boat and airplane) . This explosion is due to the General Agreement on Trade (GATT) which deregulated trade in this sector in 1998.

By 2000, mobile communications had become as important commercially as fixed devices (landlines). Since then 5 billion mobile phones have been sold, including 1 billion equipped with digital cameras

For example, in the United States Americans sent 24 million tweets during the 2013 Super Bowl (seen by 111 million viewers) ; half of the commercials aired during the game invited viewers to tweet about the commercials.

140 characters

The immediacy of the dialogues engendered by communicating with others using 140 characters or less encourages simplistic shortcuts and approximations. This type of communication requires immediate attention, but in return it is ephemeral, often causing some degree of psychological anxiety. Hence the pathological FOMO (fear of missing out). It is beginning to be perceived that youths’ capacity for concentration is inversely proportional to the multiple number of tools available ; the main causes are hyper-stimulation and multitasking.

Ego 2.0

Social networks provide a formal self-display of an admiring « I »; a pixelated « I ». Participating in networks creates a mixture of narcissism and voyeurism, so much so that these technologies easily transform the devices into self-promotional « closets »; We are witnessing an atomization of human relationships, the advent of an Ego 2.0.

Young people are looking for ways to compensate for their lack of affection and minimal attention from societal institutions (Someone is thinking of me !) by transforming friends into personalities that they collect. Moreover, the ego-portraits (selfies) taken by young people are mainly used to prove that they exist in the eyes of others.

Initially, the Internet seemed to become a window on the world ; we now realize that many young users will live in worlds of their own making.

Being alone together,
Sherry Turkle in Alone Together.

The post-PC era

Mobile devices have quickly imposed a new communications model on the planet, which will hasten the post-PC era. Mobile devices are in fashion, and bring users a social reward: to be recognized, you must own one. They have triggered a significant movement in the world of work : your mobile device is effectively your knowledge-workbench or your office. These devices are en route to using 4G (and now 5G) communications technology, which will provide the bridge to Internet 3 (chapter 3, no 16). The mobile device is ushering in a society where fame can be created on YouTube or be measured in Like clicks on Facebook :

The mobile device is a transmission technology that uses radio wave propagation to function. Scanning and cellularization initiated the explosion of mobile devices in 2000: cell phones, personal communication services, notepads and pagers, GPS and air-ground communications (trucks, police, ambulance, boat and airplane) . This explosion is due to the General Agreement on Trade (GATT) which deregulated trade in this sector in 1998.

By 2000, mobile communications had become as important commercially as fixed devices (landlines). Since then 5 billion mobile phones have been sold, including 1 billion equipped with digital cameras

For example, in the United States Americans sent 24 million tweets during the 2013 Super Bowl (seen by 111 million viewers) ; half of the commercials aired during the game invited viewers to tweet about the commercials.

140 characters

The immediacy of the dialogues engendered by communicating with others using 140 characters or less encourages simplistic shortcuts and approximations. This type of communication requires immediate attention, but in return it is ephemeral, often causing some degree of psychological anxiety. Hence the pathological FOMO (fear of missing out). It is beginning to be perceived that youths’ capacity for concentration is inversely proportional to the multiple number of tools available ; the main causes are hyper-stimulation and multitasking.

Ego 2.0

Social networks provide a formal self-display of an admiring « I »; a pixelated « I ». Participating in networks creates a mixture of narcissism and voyeurism, so much so that these technologies easily transform the devices into self-promotional « closets »; We are witnessing an atomization of human relationships, the advent of an Ego 2.0.

Young people are looking for ways to compensate for their lack of affection and minimal attention from societal institutions (Someone is thinking of me !) by transforming friends into personalities that they collect. Moreover, the ego-portraits (selfies) taken by young people are mainly used to prove that they exist in the eyes of others.

Initially, the Internet seemed to become a window on the world ; we now realize that many young users will live in worlds of their own making.

Being alone together,
Sherry Turkle in Alone Together.

The post-PC era

Mobile devices have quickly imposed a new communications model on the planet, which will hasten the post-PC era. Mobile devices are in fashion, and bring users a social reward: to be recognized, you must own one. They have triggered a significant movement in the world of work : your mobile device is effectively your knowledge-workbench or your office. These devices are en route to using 4G (and now 5G) communications technology, which will provide the bridge to Internet 3 (chapter 3, no 16). The mobile device is ushering in a society where fame can be created on YouTube or be measured in Like clicks on Facebook :