On June 29th, 2007 our world changed in a very significant way. Few really realized the magnitude of this change. This was the day a 135 gram and 11.6mm thick glass, plastic and aluminum rectangle was placed on sale in the United States. It was the first always-connected pocket super computer complete with a simplified user interface and the promise of moving networked super computing at a mass world-wide scale. Prior to this date, there were various constituent parts available for the decade prior, however this was the culmination in a single device. What was this device? The Apple iPhone model 1. Some may argue the 1977 rise of the Personal Computer started this shift, in reality it did not have the foundations for widespread adoption until the iPhone.
This moment changed everything we thought was a computer and of course, a mobile phone. Many words have been written about how this revolution in technology saw a rise in the fortunes of not only Apple but an entire ecosystem of software developers. Most of the focus has been on this side of the equation. However, there is a larger element that has fundamentally changed the fabric of society.
The 14-Year Experiment In Technology You Are Living Through Today
The symbiosis of the iPhone and later Android derivatives and the very low-cost Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been the fertile ground for this societal shift. This allows smartphone apps to deliver services that would impractical or impossible 14 years ago. The telemetry, sensors and radios packed into these pocket super computers tied to a very high resolution set of cameras and screens shifted an entire generation that can not relate to a world where they did not exist and it has now fully permeated just about every older age cohort even centenarians.
In this article and other future parts I will explore how these super computers in our pockets and their networks of computers impacted all of us up to this point and how the next generation of Artificial Intelligence both local and cloud based tied to new voice and AR/MR/VR next generation technologies will shift this even further to a point where you have a practical and existential fork in the road on how you will live out the next decades.
The 2020 pandemic moved our 14 year journey into turbo mode and the effect and affect may take a decade in retrospect to fully digest. In a word we have become addicted to this pocket super computer to such a degree that it may be impossible for most of the society to ever go back to an earlier incarnation. We are “always-on” and always distracted to such a degree that we have been able to see a rewiring of the brain that just this element in and of itself makes you and me a different person. The next massive shift being readied by Apple, Google, Amazon and others will take this to a level that few in the technology world and business world can not fathom. And just like the unintended addictions we will explore, the network connected, super computer in your pocket was not understood in 2007, in 2021 the same can be said of what is next. Although this is about technology, this is really about you and the choices you will make or if you ignore the choices, how they will be made for you.
I will explore in a Member-Only exclusive article the elements that have formed our addictions to the current technology, and there are quite a few, and the new technologies and the massive societal changes ahead. I will share the basis of what is, in every sense, an undeclared crisis brought about by these new technologies. To put it simply, this is a 14-year open societal experiment that thus far has not only put pressure on every single relationship you have but also every element of society from business to politics to your personal relationships. If you are a member, thank you. To become a member, please click on the link below and join us.
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I missed the sabbatical part.
Comments must be personal approval too.
Well, I log in to fb once a year to acknowledge Birthday Wishes. I only joined for a High School reunion thing.
Twitter however quickly became an obsession for the now and not missing the things.
After my first bounce I was glad I had GAB.
Then came a couple of 3 month no explanation suspensions.
I got back on and immediately cancelled my account. And GAB.
I think it all started back in the world that had B&W TV on a couple of channels. You could newspaper for fast and you could book for depth.
In my teens and twenties it was magazines heading closer to real time.
Then BBS’s followed rapidly by internet access. Even closer to real time.
Usenet.news.groups then comp.sys.amiga.advocacy took hundreds of hours of my time.
I rarely pick up my phone and have no apps or use for it.
I am an addictive personality but like smoking can go cold turkey.
So glad I found your writings and insight.
Great article! Many insights. It’s been a long strange trip so far. I’ve shared many of your concerns for quiet a while. The joke in 2010 was “I’ve waited for jet packs and flying cars and all I got instead was this super computer in my pocket that I can use to talk with anyone in what world” ….. in 2021, the future looks even MORE different.
An excellent article, I look forward to the next parts. I have wondered as you about the destructive nature of technology on humanity. I am not a luddite, I enjoy new technology but like many here worry about the effects of social media on our society.
My daughter’s best friend aspires to a career as a Instagram model or social influencer which saddens and worries me about youth today. Unfortunately, I am as guilty as everyone else checking for Twitter updates once an hour.
This was one of the best articles I’ve read at multiplex. Thanks for the insight and always Spark our inquisitive minds, the reason why I’ll keep renovating my membership.
Hey Brian
I stopped checking my twitter a month ago, now if I look at my twitter feed I feel heart palpitations. This is a good thing because it encourages me to stay away from Twitter even more.
Very profound Brian, lovely article, and one which resonates with me personally as i have started to already mentally question several of these aspects you have raised. FB IG accounts have already been deleted and now I am considering others.
Join no mobs. You’ve got my solemn oath.
Well said, Brian. Hope you enjoyed your sabbatical 🙂