Instantaneous. That’s the operative word for modern tech advancements. Time is the number one commodity in the world, and everything needs to be faster as our lives continually increase pace. Technology in itself no longer provides the means to advantageous time-saving methods, and in some instances may actually delay your goals. Instead, the efficiency of the tech devices we use has become paramount.
Rapid Changes
The world has come a long way over the past two decades. To put it in perspective, when Windows 98 debuted 20 years ago, it required computing speeds of 66MHz and the power of 16 MB of RAM. The first ever Android smartphone, released 10 years later in 2008, had 192 MB of RAM, 12 times the amount required by desktop operations just a decade before. Fast forward another 10 years to 2018, and state-of-the-art smartphones boast as much as 4-6GB of RAM and 2.8GHz speeds, eclipsing metrics from the previous decade. What does all of this new found mobile processing power really mean though? The answer to that question lies within the individual user.
Adults (Everyday Use)
At this point, it’s almost hard to remember life without mobile smartphones. The advancement of modern mobile processors has allowed adults to complete tasks on-the-go that were previously homebound. Mobile banking, shopping, dynamic navigation and multimedia communication are just a few ways adults continually take advantage of current mobile processing speeds. To expand on communication, mobile apps now allow cross-cultural conversations to take place using instant translations, which also allows for more vacation options, or the ability to connect with more people.
Parents are also afforded the luxury of access to their children at all times. Whether keeping eyes and ears on your infant or young baby using mobile surveillance, or checking in with your teenager ensuring safe arrival to their school event or a friend’s house.
Teachers/Students
Learning has never been so easy, yet difficult, as it is for the current generation of students. Endless information available at the tip of the fingers, juxtaposed with endless distractions to match.
The advancement of e-readers such as the Kindle and Nook are a direct result of the advancement of mobile processing. Essentially, students can carry around an entire library of literature in their pockets or backpacks. The same phenomenon has taken place with school textbooks, and the submission of homework through online forums.
In the classroom today, teachers face the dilemma of delivering thoughtful and highly engaging lesson plans through the noise of digital distraction. Some teachers have made the leap to combat digital distractions with tech of their own, using a mobile application called Flipd. It limits the use of mobile phones for a specified time period, and some professors will incentivize its use during their class.
Businesses
Entire companies and business models have now been built through the power of modern mobile processing speeds. New-age applications such as Uber, AirBnB and Spotify all rely on increased mobile processing power for steady connection speeds to 4G networks, accurate GPS locations, multimedia messaging and quick exchanges of e-commerce. The new Snapdragon 845 mobile processor from Qualcomm is already surpassing these requirements with next-generation features such as 5G connectivity, machine learning capabilities to automate your habits over time, enhanced security measures unique to the user, and increased efficiency of power usage. A mobile processor of this magnitude makes modern mobile multitasking seem effortless, and it opens the door to future technology that can further extend the bounds of possibility.
Yelp and Google have led the charge in the modern concept of business-related reviews. In the immobile days of internet access, people still had to go to a restaurant, test a product, or trust a mechanic without any prior knowledge of the establishment or goods. Even if you decided to access Yelp or Google Maps reviews from 2004-2008 (the time they existed before smartphones), you were certainly hard pressed to find pictures or videos to supplement your decision.
The Outlook
Technology has made permanent changes to society and the way everything within operates. Simple question arguments can be resolved with a quick mobile internet search. Decisions on where to eat and how to get there are far more efficient using a mobile device to seek reviews and navigate traffic. Teachers and students are having an arms race with distractions versus engagement to learn. People can connect cross-culturally all around the world. At times, the progression of these newly utilized tools can seem overwhelming, but overall, they will continue to enhance the quality of life moving forward. Don’t be too rigid in your ways, have adaptability, and you won’t risk falling behind the times of modern mobile processing.
