iPhone and Beyond is a discussion about the future cell phone and all the possibilities this most personal media device could possess.
The panel includes Chris Petovic, VP of Digital Media for Playboy and Cyriac Roeding , EVP for CBS Mobile. The moderators are Rafat Ali and Staci Kramer.
Before the iPhone, mobile cells basically had ringtones, video clips, and games. iPhone propelled us into the future with a phone, internet, and ipod all in one.
One interesting point made was that we push these devices to the limit.
Despite the iPhone’s rich features, we want so much more. There are some problems that the iPhone still needs to work out, but all in all it is an amazing invention in this digital age.
Another good point, made by Petovic, is that this is only version 1.0. The future will no doubt hold many more versions that are cheaper and more advanced than the one before.
Even for those of us that don’t have an iPhone, our phone is a part of us. It’s become an appendage. If I want to text, out comes the phone. If I want to play games or check our schedule, out comes the phone. If I want to know the time in London, out comes the phone.
And, of course, if I want to make a call, out comes the phone. That’s great! Everything at our fingertips. What could be better?
When I was in college, back in the 90’s, not one student on campus had a cell phone, now everyone does. Today kids in a car become one with the TV. Another revolution that wasn’t around back in the day. We are seeing this technology spreading out over our whole world of communication.
Walking across campus students are on the phone, not talking to the person next to them. The brother and sister who would be interacting are now transfixed on the silver screen. The content is taking over and more and more of our time is spent interacting with this device instead of each other.
I’m not saying its good or bad, but it’s clearly here to stay.
One of the main points of the discussion was how content could be made cheaper. The obvious answer is advertising. This would make content much cheaper if not free, at times. More people would be exposed to the content and therefore more content would be produced.
People would be exposed to more advertising and more content and so on and so forth. It is an unstoppable force that was set in motion some time ago.
I think its a win/win situation. The technology people will keep moving forward and the content people will try to keep up, generating as much as they can. And everyone else will have a product with a lower cost, more content and more features.
Advertising will be rampant, but that’s the cost of business. Soon enough, the day will come when someone with the current iPhone will feel behind the times as he watches his fellow passengers watching the future.
Stuart Draper is contributor at ScribeMedia and a worshipper of all things iPhone.
