Best Beware, "Smart Mobs" Are Everywhere

The next social revolution might be televised, but it will certainly be mobilized.  Society's current infatuation with cell phones and instant information continues to grow rapidly.  The work "Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution" by Howard Rheingold eerily predicts a massive technological shift that will impact all of society. Written in 2002, Rheingold explains that "smart mobs" of individuals will be the ones unknowingly facilitating the shift towards electronic dependence.

Rheingold states that smart mobs, "consist of people who are able to act in concert even if they don't know each other"(Rheingold 2).  These individuals carry mobile devices that connect them by telephone while at the same time providing them with information from various sources (2).  In addition, cheap microprocessors with the ability to communicate with one another inhabit an enormous amount of products and buildings (2).  Reasonable prices make these technologies accessible throughout the entire world.  Rheingold's prediction is that these technologies will develop until real-world objects and places combine with the vast power of the Internet (2).  In turn, this will transform mobile communication media into "remote-control" devices that impact the tangible world (3);  That one day we will be capable of and depend on daily interaction with the world through our phones. And this prediction is far from off.
 
Actually, all of Rheingold's predictions of what would occur in the next 8 years are shockingly accurate.  He talks about people using GPS, instant picture messaging, and organize business transactions on their phones (3).  Then this will lead to large amateur groups who are employing the new technology that old, established medias have not caught onto yet.  All of these new parties will cause competition and further the rapid growth of mobile technology. 

These predictions have been realized by the creation of smart phones such as the iPhone, Blackberry, or Android.  If one gets lost, they simply plug their destination into their phone producing a map.  Picture messaging allows friends to show each other what they are doing at any time. Even big business executives are constantly jabbering and fiddling with business exchanges.  10 years ago, the average consumer would have thought the availability of such devices to be near impossible.  Now, according to a recent survey conducted from July-September 2011, 87.4 million people in the U.S. alone own them (Rao 1).  These statistics were taken from the article, "As Smartphone Usage Increases, Android Gains U.S. Market Share" by Leena Rao.  As more apps and abilities become possible, certain companies like the Android have to improve their product in order to thrive. Rao's article shows proof of a competition between mobile phone companies along with the large profit that is generated by them.

With the emergence of these highly popular smartphones, Rheingold's idea of smart mobs can't be more real.  They are way more advanced than the basic phones he described which were only capable of making calls and sending text messages.  Current mobile phone technologies have grown to mingle with the capabilities of the Internet, and it will only get more advanced.  This is certainly wonderful in the many ways they make almost everything accessible at the drop of a hat; making life a whole lot easier.  Yet I warn, we must not become completely dependent on these devices or else societal values will wither away.