I made the realization the other day that my age-group and my next younger brother's age-group are the last generation to grow up without mobile technology being a permeating reality of life.
I was 17 when my family picked up our first real mobile phone. We'd had a pre-paid phone about 2 years earlier but we hadn't really used it much. Even that first cell-phone wasn't very useful. We bought it from a kiosk vendor who swore that our area would have service inside of 6months and that we'd be able to use it whenever we wanted (funny enough, over 10 years later and they still don't have service where my parents still live).
We went ahead and got the phone because I was started college shortly and the town that the college was in had enough signal for their company that I could use it about half way through the 30 mile drive.
I didn't really use the phone that much except to ask my parents if they needed anything while I was in town, or let them know when my shift at work got extended.
About 6 months into my first year at the community college, I wanted a phone that actually worked wherever I went, so I picked up a phone from another carrier (one of the 2 that had signal out in our area) and let my parents use the old one whenever they went into town.
I've pretty much had a cell-phone ever since and as the usefulness of them became apparent, all of my family members followed suit in getting their own cellphones.
Now we all have smartphones, even my 12 year old sister. We use them to varying degrees, myself probably the most, my dad definitely the least. But there are functions of them that we all use quite regularly.
I've noticed that I spend a significantly lower amount of time at a real computer than I used to. Before I got a smartphone, all of my computing needs were handled with a desktop or a laptop. Now, there's very little that I can't do on my phone or tablet. Really the only thing that is left to use my desktop for is gaming and writing a lot (I just like the feel of a full sized keyboard when I'm writing a long story or post).
There's a joke around my family that my son's first word is going to be cellphone related. I don't think so, but it does highlight the fact that my son is probably going to have a cellphone at a very early age and is probably going to know how to use it to its fullest extent. How soon, and how smart the phone is, will be a topic of discussion between my wife and I, but I know that by his teenage years, he's going to be just like daddy and want the best.
I wonder sometimes if he'll ever even use a computer outside of school. Or even there, if the tablet scene continues to explode like it seems to be doing.
Another facet of the Mobile Lifestyle is that nearly everyone has a phone and a large, and growing, majority have smartphones. I've turned it into a sort of a game when I'm out and about and see someone on their phone. Which carrier, which manufacturer, which model. Some phones are easier to spot than others. The iPhone is very recognizable and easy to spot. Android phones are a little harder, especially non-Verizon Android phones. I was sitting in the movie theater the other day, getting ready to watch a movie, when someone in the row ahead pulled out a phone and started playing on it. It took me about two glances to pick out what kind of phone it was, only because it was a Droid X and I just got a new phone like 2 months ago switching from the X.
The increasing number of options for people to get into the smartphone market is just going to further the situation.
So what effect has our increasing mobile lifestyle had on you?
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