The Chronology of Mobile Technology Evolution
After the introduction of the Motorola RAZR in 2004, consumers and electronic companies started to define what a cell phone should look like–small and thin. But as the Apple iPhone became a hit in 2007, the definition of a cell phone, or should I say smartphone, became tall and wide (but still thin). How did this sudden change occur in less than a decade? The answer lies within a phone’s software.
At the time when the Motorola RAZR was released, people weren’t as dependent on their phones the way they are now. Facebook and Twitter weren’t around and people that wanted email could go and get a Blackberry. Texting was on the rise but definitely not mainstream. Not to mention, nobody ever thought that the web browser on their phones would be capable of viewing websites as intensive as this one. So the question that was raised was, why get a phone that’s bulky when I could get a thinner phone that does the same thing? That was when companies like Samsung and LG started coming out with their own thin phones to compete and therefore, the world was headed in a direction where cell phones would be smaller and thinner; or so they thought.
When the iPhone came out, most electronic companies didn’t think of Apple as a threat. However, once it was proven that it was a popular phone, they scrambled to come out with a better device. With mobile technology evolution, iphone and every other smartphone after it, was focused on giving the consumer more power and more access to things that could only be done on a computer, all in a small package. However, the iphone’s 3.7 inch screen was apparently too small for some people and companies like Samsung and HTC started coming out with phones that are 4-5.3 inches. People accepted that because a bigger screen would allow them to view more information, play games better, and text better as well. Facebook and Twitter became mainstream and email was pretty much available on every smartphone. Apps became the most important thing in a smartphone and the bigger the screen, the better the experience.
Again, why the sudden change from small and thin to tall and wide? Well, with mobile technology evolution, people started to view smartphones as personal mini-computers as opposed to a cell phone. Hence, the need for bigger and more powerful devices were needed. Who knows, maybe the smartphone will become as small as the RAZR one day. As technology rapidly changes and data is being stored on the cloud, the end result is always the same. Consumers benefit the most.
