Wireless tech creating a nation of "urban nomads"
Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:55PM EDT
See Comments (23)
This week The Economist offers a typically thoughtful essay on what wireless technology, like Wi-Fi and cell phones, has done for us. Not from a computing standpoint, mind you, but from a social one. Has wireless tech turned us into a nation of neo-nomads, wanderers who work and play wherever they happen to find a signal? It certainly looks that way...
The Starbucks of the world are regularly crowded with MacBook-toting hipsters who use the cafes as their unofficial offices, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, the need for even a laptop and a coffee shop is on the decline, as users turn to the ever-increasing capabilities of smart phones like the BlackBerry and the iPhone to get their work done from just about anywhere.
But getting your work done from anywhere is old news: Now scientists in multiple fields are looking at how these technologies are changing family dynamics (they may actually bring relatives closer), relationships (the jury's out), and even architecture (as buildings now have to be designed with wireless signals in mind).
There's virtually no aspect of society that isn't feeling some impact from mobile tech: Even linguists are LOLing about what it's done to their field. And this one about knocked me off the couch: In Japan, five of the ten bestselling novels in 2007 were written on cell phones.
It's a long read, but an interesting one that will make you reconsider what you think you know about wireless technology.
How has mobile tech impacted your life? Sound off in the comments.
LINK: Nomads at last
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Comments on Wireless tech creating a nation of "urban nomads"
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2 Posted by rogueist on Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:36PM EDT Report Abuse
I dont really get any work done on my Blackberry, and I doubt I would get any done on an iPhone either. I need a full blown computer to do any work, so I always travel with a laptop and I have a broadband card, so I can connect anywhere I am to the internet. Personally I think that the net cafe's are on the decline because more and more people are using broadband internet cards to connect to the internet remotely. In this small office, it has mushroomed from just me to over 50% of the office has broadband cards and laptops for out of the office remote use. Only about 10% of the staff still has cafe type accounts.
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3 Posted by sciencetroll@verizon.net on Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:55PM EDT Report Abuse
i think you are right rogueist about net cafes being on the decline but things like the iTouch are getting more and more popular. i guess eventually everybody will have a cellular radio in their gadgets just like wifi now and wifi will be obsolete.
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4 Posted by agustin2489 on Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:02PM EDT Report Abuse
Like rogueist, I tend to want to work with a laptop and some wireless. I tend to look at iPhones and Blackberrys as smart phones that are great in their own right. However, I'd probably only use them for casual browsing and news following.
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5 Posted by super_dave_1984 on Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:05PM EDT Report Abuse
I think tech is making us dumber. I can't remember anybody's phone numbers. They are all saved in my phone.
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1 Posted by ecarpent@sbcglobal.net on Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:19PM EDT Report Abuse
All these tech tools are interesting. I do not think that most people actually "need" them though. The majority of these tech advances seems to have created problems that didn't exist before, rather than alleviate or eliminate exisiting problems that we fantasized they would. Now, many teens use their cell phones for impromptu and self promoting photographic porn exchanges. Some people have died, or killed others trying to "text" and drive simultaneously in our multi-tasking world. Of course these are issues posed just by cell phone use. Most people seem to use these new tools as distractions and play things instead of using them to assist in or complete actual work. It would be interesting to know how often these new technologies are useful to society and how many people truly use them in that way. From what I have seen, recreation seems to be the main use and purpose for everything from cell phones to digital media, to wireless technology, and on to advanced software. Toys are fun. But these toys are expensive and seem to be more for show than true productivity. Maybe the next generation will benefit from these advances in the spirit they were intended.