“Back
in the day, we had one phone in the house, it was a rotary phone
connected to the wall. You had to wait your turn to use the phone
because no house had their own phone line, you shared ‘party lines’ with
your neighbors. So if Billy from next door was on the phone you had to
wait.”
Fast
track to 2013 and phones are not only everywhere, they are portable and
lightweight and provide multitudes of services beyond mere telephone
conversations. It can be said that the 1990s was the decade of the cell
phone; beginning as large, chunky devices they slimmed down, dropped
their bothersome antennas, and even became available in a variety of
vibrant colors. Meanwhile the appearance of the smartphone, changed the
cellular phone industry forever. According to pcmag.com a smartphone is,
“A cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access.”
The first smartphone, believe it or not, was created in 1992 by IBM and
BellSouth - its name was Simon Personal Communicator (his friends called
him Simon). Simon combined a phone with a calculator, an address book
and a world clock; items that are standard in today’s most basic phones.
It
wasn’t until the early 2000s that smartphones were developed enough to
go mainstream, they had been developed for over a decade into a compact
and powerful product. And in 2002, Blackberry and Palm put out the first
“modern” smartphones which featured internet and email.
The
game changed again when Apple produced with the first advanced
touchscreen phone in 2007 containing a revolutionary mobile operating
system, the first of its kind. It didn’t take long for others to follow
suit, Google unveiled its Android powered devices and Microsoft the
Windows Phone.
Caption: The changing mobile phone
Here
come the brass taxes, since the beginning of the 20th century and
Alexander Graham Bell’s invention, landline telephones have been on the
rise worldwide. The first noticeable decline wasn’t until the turn of
the 21st century. In 2001, 57 out of 100 persons had a landline in the
developed world; by 2007 that number had decreased to 50. In the United
States, almost 25% of households no longer used landlines by 2009.
(pbs.org) Why? The cell phone offered the convenience of mobile
communication, we were no longer tied to our homes or our desks to get
in touch with each other. In addition, paying for both a landline and
multiple cell phones became a redundant expense and the cell phone was
clearly more bang for its buck. So people tossed their landlines aside
for an alternative more appealing both financially and physically.
Last
year, out of all the U.S. consumers with mobile devices a whopping
49.7% of those were smartphones (nielsen.com). The days of conventional
paper maps and travel guides are long gone, as everything can be
conveniently found on one device in the palm of your hand. Currently
the most common uses of mobile smartphones are text messaging, browsing,
picture taking (with the handy built-in camera), email and social
networking. Smartphone owners not only look at their phones all day, but
carry them as if they become one with their minds. They are constantly
sharing images of drinking their corner store coffee on Instagram or
tweeting from the amazing concert they got front row seats for. A couple
decades ago, they would have had to wait to see their friends in person
or pick up their home phone to share their eventful day.
Caption: An app filled smartphone for the modern day shopper
Mobile
search has become an integral part of daily life. Gone are the days we
used the Yellow Pages for addresses, now 78% of smartphone users use
their devices to lookup the store location of the blowout sale so they
can grab the 42” tv set. Rather than physically sorting through store
inventory for an item that may be sold out, consumers can conveniently
check online inventory on the go. While in the store they compare
prices, redeem mobile coupons, access shopping lists and make those
purchases directly from their phone through the use of an app. Not only
that, after leaving the store 22% will comment, review, and or share
their purchases with their online communities. (nielsen.com) The mobile
phone has become the wallet of the 21st century, it holds everything we
hold dear: our money, our phone numbers, our family photos, our notes,
to-do lists, and scribblings - its the perfect do-all device for a
shopper on the go.
Within
this booming market, businesses have adapted by targeting customers
with time sensitive and location based promotions. This concept can
only continue to grow, given that by the year 2015 its expected that a
staggering 2 billion people worldwide will be using mobile devices to
access the internet (mashable.com). As companies take a more active
role in using mobile and technological advances in acquiring and
retaining loyal customers, consumerism will take leaps into the future
by empowering the mobile consumer and the seller with information.
Caption: Shopper on the Go
