What Does A Future Beyond Smartphones Look Like?
By: Renzo Guevara
Technology development is weird. It’s also unpredictably fascinating. One day we all thought that flip phones were such a cool thing (admit it you liked the idea of flipping off a call in such a sassy way), and now we’re dealing with touchscreens… which are also trying to turn into flip phones… but that’s beside the point. The future is exciting, but we know little about it.
Thank you, next.
Year by year, we’re bombarded with tech showcases that basically amount to which company can flaunt the shiniest looking flagship phone. We’ve come a long way from the original iPhone reveal back in 2009. Even though frequent releases may suck for our wallets, it’s quite the opposite for what it means to the tech industry.
Designed to outdate others.
If you were to talk to someone from a couple of decades ago and say that the DVD player, GPS, health tracker, map, video camera, editing software, video game or whatever app it is you can think of can be found in just that one block of screen you’re holding, they’d probably pee their pants.
Smartphones are specifically designed to make life easier and make processes much more convenient. It’s a product meant to streamline life itself at the cost of making past technologies obsolete.
Them phones bout’ to be outsmarted
Even though we sit comfortably with the smartphones we have today – shelling out thousands of dollars for a product that’s essentially the same with slight adjustments and adding a +1 to the product name’s number, there’s still a constant desire to see what’s the next big thing.
There’s always the next big thing.
A life beyond the screen sounds like an ideal situation amidst the over saturation and dependence on tech but it’s also something the industry is trying to explore. Concepts such as virtual reality have been trying to ease its way into the mainstream but despite it being unique, it’s not quite there yet.
There is one common idea that’s going around innovation conversations – that the way to innovate smartphones… is to move away from smartphones. I guess they’re the next in line to be obsolete.
Face reality
You ever look at your phone and think “dang, I wish I could wear this.” Tech companies definitely think so.
We’re in the endgame now.
It seems that we are at the peak of where smartphones can get at this point, or at least gearing towards it any time soon. Connectivity is king. Wires are being removed, ports are reduced, voice command, and 5G is becoming more and more popular.
All these “innovations” point to a future where we barely have to use our hands anymore. I guess when people watched Tony Stark flip around with holograms they thought “yo, we can definitely do that.” Technology isn’t just about making life easier at this point, it’s about standing alongside life itself.
Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. A world that is no longer limited to the four corners of your screen. Whether this can come from a watch, a pair of glasses, a necklace, or even a shirt. Wearable tech is possible to come. Heck, we already have bits of it in the form of smart watches and wireless earphones. It’s only a matter of time until those sci-fi stories aren’t so “fiction” anymore.
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