The 4th Wave: Shaping the New Mobility on a Global Scale
Disruptive technology is great, isn’t it? Look at the media frenzy surrounding the iPhone and Android today. Such innovation pushes the boundaries of what’s conceivable and opens the doors to endless possibilities. Impossible is nothing may be Adidas’ tagline, but it’s also an appropriate term for our industry today.
Given this penchant for innovation, it’s now quite feasible for me to know where my friends are (1), pay for train fares (2) and stream live video (3) – all on a mobile device, on my way to work. Whether I would want to do all of this remains to be seen – the more likely scenario is email, email, and hey, how about some more email? However, the point is not the application, but rather the possibility of doing numerous things from a mobile device – be it an iPhone, a Gphone or a run-of-the-mill feature phone. The fact is, the New Mobility is here, moving, and moving very fast.
But it’s not an isolated, regional event. In fact, it’s quite egalitarian when you consider that over 68% of the world’s mobile subscribers are in developing nations (4). And it’s even more impressive when you consider the outcome that it can have on countries. A 2005 London Business School study found that the addition of 10 mobile phones per 100 people boosted a typical developing country’s GDP by 0.6% (5).
The Fourth Wave of Computing is clearly benefiting communities far and wide economically, educationally and in health care, by providing opportunities which otherwise may not have existed. A New York Times article, “Can Cellphones Help End Global Poverty?” (6), provides some great examples, such as:
- In Kenya, the ability to anonymously text-message questions and receive answers on culturally taboo topics such as breast cancer and sexually transmitted diseases
- In Uganda, the practice of sente, where people use prepaid cellular airtime as a way of transferring money
- In India, where fisherman find prospective buyers and therefore the best market prices before coming to shore
The above vignettes simply scratch the surface of how lives are changing as a result of the Fourth Wave. They also show how innovation is relative to one’s environment. In addition, they demonstrate how the Fourth Wave is not only about accessing information, but also about enabling, enriching and empowering consumers’ lives, now matter whom or where they may be.
The question for all of us is: where can we take this tomorrow?
- Dan Fisher
Sources/References:
1. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/01/sniff-your-friends-location-on-facebook
2. http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2008/news20080130.aspx
3. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9979814-52.html
4. ITU Wireless Intelligence
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6339671.stm
6. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/magazine/13anthropology-t.html
