May 05 2008 / by juldrich
Category: Communication Year: 2013 Rating: 9 Hot
By Jack Uldrich
It is sometimes hard to remember that it was only 15 years ago
that the first cellphones came into existence. Moreover, they were
big, bulky, expensive and of limited capability. Today, the average
$79 cellphone serves as a phone, address book, MP3/TV player, camera, Internet browser, and video
recorder. What else will they be able to do in the future?
For starters, as I explained in this piece a couple of months ago, the cellphone of
the future will likely serve as a low-cost diagnostic technician
that can tell you everything from if your breathe is bad to whether
the pollen count is reaching such a level that your allergies might
kick in. Beyond this, cellphones are likely to become an even more
dependable security blanket for people. They already serve as a
useful instrument in the event your car breaks down on the freeway,
but two recent articles offer additional glimpses into how
cellphones of the near future might function. Audi is now
installing cellphones into its cars that will snap
a picture of the the thief in the event your car is stolen, and
in Japan women are now downloading recordings designed to ward off “gropers.” (cont.)
Such applications are just the beginning. It has been said that
the average dentist can diagnose 156 diseases just by looking at
your mouth. In the future, your cellphone might not be able to
accurately diagnose that many diseases, but it’ll probably get
pretty close. I also think in the near future your cellphone will
be able to accurately assess the level of stress in your voice and
automatically dial the nearest police office if you yell for
“help.” Who knows you might even be able to spray mace from your
cellphone in the future.
Regardless, it is not hard to imagine how the cellphone will
soon become the 21st century equivalent of the Swiss Army knife—a
tiny device that can do a lot of different things. As we move
toward a digital cash environment, I am confident that you will
even be able to buy a beer using only your phone within the next
few years. Now, if we can only get the phone to also open that
bottle of beer then we’ll really be cooking!
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