The Fourth Wave
Convergence drives the competitive dynamics of the mobile Internet. Carriers’ long-term growth and market leadership depend on their evolution from wireless telephony to mobile computing.
The Fourth Wave of Computing is mobile and moving at internet speed:
- The First Wave consisted of mainframes, which achieved critical mass in commercial deployment in the late 1950s and 1960s.
- The Second Wave focused on minicomputers, which distributed computing beyond a centralized mainframe in the 1970s and 1980s.
- The Third Wave — personal computers — further distributed computing to the desk and then the lap in the 1980s and 1990s. PCs went from office to home, laptops became wireless and mobile computing was born.
- The Fourth Wave distributes the open Internet and web-based media from the lap to the hand — smartphones, feature phones, mass-market cellular phones.
The Next Generation
Today, mobile devices outnumber laptops globally by more than 30 to 1, a ratio that is escalating daily. In emerging markets throughout Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa — and in certain segments of Europe and North America — a growing number of consumers’ first and only experience of the World Wide Web will be on a mobile device.
The wireless phone has become the next-generation mobile computing platform. Data traffic is growing exponentially but still in its infancy. Roles and relationships within the ecosystem are already shifting with tsunami force. Everyone is converging on the mobile internet space — internet brands, content providers/aggregators, device manufacturers — and everyone wants to control the user experience.
Mobile Internet Growth
Source: Cisco 2010
The High Ground
Network operators are in a unique position of strength to capitalize on this convergence and drive the Fourth Wave of Computing. They own the smart pipe that provides broad access to and discovery of all content on the Web. This distribution channel is vital to mass consumer adoption. It is the single most critical element of the end-to-end user experience — and it is coveted by everyone who wants to control the user experience.
However, barriers to mobile internet adoption persist, and they focus on user frustration. Impossible upload and download times. Too many clicks. Too many web pages. Jagged video and audio play. Device upgrades that are too expensive or too difficult.
Bytemobile’s Unison™ Mobile Internet Platform eliminates these barriers and ensures that wireless networks keep getting smarter. The Unison open architecture is a continuum to the future.
