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Generation Wireless

If you're travelling through the cities of our world, it's always interesting to observe people and their communication routines. This is where you can see how mobiles and the internet are changing our behaviours, day by day.

Take Hong Kong as an example. In 1998, everyone would run around with their mobile phone. No fancy stuff, just simple phones to make calls. Add two years and the scene has changed. In the early 2000s, you seldom saw someone in the streets with a phone at their ear. However, they now all looked like secret agents with their headphones in the ear. You couldn't "see" people on the phone anymore, but everyone seemed to talk to themselves. Quite funny, especially if you were standing next to someone who's suddenly starting a conversation with a loud "Wai" (Hello,…).

Now, fast forward to today. All the headphones have been replaced by Bluetooth devices, easily to be identified by all the blue blinking. And. The actual phones are visible again! People are now using them as mobile tv devices, e-mail tools or gaming appliances. The transition from phone to entertaining/working-device has been completed.

And Hong Kong is not unique; today's urban people are in constant search of mobile coverage or internet access. Loosing connection - if only for a minute - seems like an impossible solution. New devices such as the iPhone - adding real internet to the phone - have certainly contributed to this.

And phones are not the only thing. I'm also fascinated by notebooks, and their impact to our working behaviour. Just take your office to a coffee shop near you, buy "access" in form of a beverage and connect to the free wireless internet. These wireless gateways are becoming really popular, all the seats are occupied by people in front of their laptops - especially places next to power outlets are in popular demand these days.

With the new generation of very small notebooks, pioneered by Asus, this trend is certainly set to continue. Until a new trend is changing our behaviour again.

What this could be? You will find out - it's coming soon to a city near you.

 

Michael Meier [contact]

…written on my old-school office computer.

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