Mobile Internet Will Save The World

I've been having visions of the future... the Global Village alive and well.

Background: I'm taking some classes that are teaching me how f***ed up the world really is. I mean like, how most of the rest of the world is starving or dying from disease. While I can't really make much difference by donating some food or money or time, I firmly believe that technology can save the world. And that you and I have the power to influence the way this story plays out. In some way, I feel that by just writing my predictions below, it will help them to become reality. And I want to know what you think about this.

Here's what I see right now: Mobile phones are getting cheaper. Mobile internet is becoming more popular. Social networks are mainstream. Social media is becoming mainstream. People are starting to distrust the corporate news media. People are starting to distrust the government. The internet is providing better and better entertainment for people. People are making better content for the internet. People are communicating in new and meaningful ways through the internet. Social networks are becoming local.

Here's what I see in the near future: Mobile phones will become available for free. Your mom will start blogging. You'll have video chats with people around the world about meaningful things. Your neighbors will be in your same social networks. And you'll really know what's going on in the world, and so will everyone else.

Some, or all, of these things might sound ridiculous to you. Let me explain... First, Google (and others) are placing a lot of bets on mobile advertising. Who's going to accept ads on their phones if they're not getting free service? I don't know Google's business plan yet, but they are launching their new phone platform (Android) this summer, with a whole bunch of phones from many manufacturers involved... there's a lot of potential for revolutionary change here. Expect mobile technology innovation to increase exponentially. Anyway, I'm hoping Google will decide to give out free phones and subsidize service through mobile ads.

Mobile internet. Apple's iPhone has shown us what mobile internet can look like... it's really put the internet into my pocket for sure. However, the iPhone is still very expensive, and lots of people are waiting before getting one for various reasons. Nonetheless, mobile internet is something more people are thinking about than ever before. And service providers know this, and data plan prices are coming down with competition. But think about the rest of the world, places where nobody can afford a computer but everyone has a mobile phone. Imagine them hopping on Twitter... on Flickr... on Digg... or YouTube.

Local Social Networks. Popular social networks thus far have been pretty removed from the physical world. You meet people online based on interests, but not because you were in the same vicinity. Imagine ad-hoc local chat rooms. Imagine neighborhood social networks. Imagine collaboration, like citizen journalism, coming from within these social networks. Imagine your phone setting up your cellphone to vibrate when someone you know is in your vicinity. It's happening, and it's going to change society in ways I can't begin to imagine.

Oh, and when I said your mom will start blogging... It's true. She just won't know it, or think of it that way. You'll be getting a stream of photos from her. She'll be writing updates to multiple friends at a time, no longer through email, but something else. And of course, it won't just be your mom. It's everyone else, too.


(Update:) I guess I didn't fully address the title of the post yet, "Mobile Internet Will Save The World". So many people are stuck, physically and socially, around the world, in poverty. They are well aware that life is better elsewhere, but can't do anything to "better themselves". Now give them the internet. They can now talk with anyone in the world, and make friends and business connections. You've heard of micro-loans? Imagine how much more likely you'd be to give a young entrepreneur some start-up capital if you could video-chat with them first, and they'd blog and twitter their progress. And then also, you've got the potential web developers and software engineers, that will naturally start wanting to write applications for these new devices. Social networks will spring up. People will get excited. Groups will organize and bring about massive change. But most importantly, the internet will enable people to educate themselves to a point where they can perform skilled, knowledge-work. And then, what's to stop them from making money? And that's how the mobile internet will save the world.