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September 10, 2006
The Primary Web Device
I've been pointing out for a few years now that we are on the precipice of a major change in the foundation consumer technology for the internet. We already know that laptops passed desktops as the primary access device a few years back.
The Register has a Sept. 8th article here. It points out that cel phones passed the 2.5 billion mark on Sept. 7th according to estimates.
"The cellular industry took 20 years to reach one billion connections, three years to reach two billion connections and is on target to reach its third billion in a period of just over two years," Wireless Intelligence director Martin Garner said. "Worldwide growth is currently running at over 40m new connections per month - the highest volume of growth the market has ever seen," he added. According to Garner, most of the current growth is coming from emerging markets with low levels of penetration, rather than from mature regions such as Europe."
Some countries now have more cel phones than people! Most countries infrastructure is more advanced and modern than North America's but we're catching up quickly. This means we can see parts of the future already in process around the world. Deeper penetration of smartphones, more TV on phones, text messaging at very high levels, and more.
What does this mean for libraries?
1. Are our websites ready for being viewed on the small screen of a smartphone?
2. Are we ready for text messaging and SMS? (Just like we adapted to phones, e-mail and IM.)
3. Are we ready for serving information needs at the exact point of need?
4. Are we ready for GPS oriented needs?
5. Are we following and learning from the experiences internationally?
6. Are we preparing our staff for new software and deveice modalities like when we converted to Windows based environments?
7. When it hits the youth more quickly, will our educational institutions be ready for K-12 and undergrads, the largest generation in history. Will we be prepared?
I wonder. Have our staff and colleagues acquired the foundation skills to adapt quickly. When we needed to make the dumb terminal or DOS to Windows we discovered that there were whole sets of foundation skills that needed to be taught (keyboard, PC, screen, equipment, etc.) in addition to the applications. Will we have the same issues again? It's not our choice whether to evolve or not (although some of my colleagues seem to believe it is). We have to move with our clients.
Hmmmm.
Stephen
Stephen
Posted by stephen at September 10, 2006 7:00 PM