The Mobile Web: Living in The Cloud
Jul 10th, 2008 by Dan Blank
A month ago the iPhone 3G was announced.
During the announcement presentation, the Internet was sometimes described as a “cloud,” that can store information, and is universally present.
And I can’t help but feel that soon, we will all live in the clouds.
Clouds that follow us, and become the center of our lives.
Your files and documents will live in the cloud, accessible anywhere, from any device.
Your friends will live in the cloud, and you can always reach them.
Live data and information will filter to you from the cloud, anywhere, anytime.
And the cloud unchains you. From a specific desk, computer, place, and time.
It is your television, your newspaper, your radio.
It is a way to connect and stay connected.
It is a way to schedule and unschedule.
But what I mostly take from it is this: The Internet is no longer an “option.”
It is a reality.
It is being integrated into all aspects of our lives.
And sure, that can be scary.
And sure, that can be a threat to established practices and business models.
But it can also be freeing.
And this freedom is something that people are experimenting with in small ways, every day.
There is no one path forward, but many.
And a little device like the iPhone is less a gadget, than a doorway.
Whether that doorway leads somewhere postive or negative is up to you.
But the doorway is out there, for anyone to walk through.
How long will it be before our customers and readers walk through it?
Or perhaps the question should be: how can we help our readers and customers walk through it.