A Merging of Styles

There's something about learning how other cultures use technology, specifically mobile technology, that really amazes me. Mobile tech has a mash of personal and social effects that galvanizes and separates so easily. Not that it should be surprising, but just knowing about how others use their phones makes for good reading, and a fair bit of ideas on how those of us in the U.S. can take our approaches to mobile tech a bit more "over the edge."

For example, many of us are familiar with the fact that places like Japan and South Korea are mobile fanatics. There are so many parts of their subcultures that are mobile-driven or mobile-influenced that it's pretty amazing. Recent reports say such things as high school girls in Japan spend on average 2 hours on their mobile devices a day. That's mobile Web, but mainly SMS. Its not like they aren't in school either. Incredible.

And then there are stories that talk about how the publishing industry in Japan and S. Korea is bolstered by authors who compose they works on mobile devices, and then send them via SMS and mobile Internet to the publishing houses for critiquing and pre-publishing.

Then you have places such as Pakistan, which is in the midst of deploying WiMax throughout the entire country. Whole industries and ways of life will now be merged with a wireless capability that just was not there before. I can imagine that moofing (mobile-out-of-office working) will be something that becomes more of a way of life there.

It would seem that adding mobile to our lives promotes this type of merging and mixing of styles that was not possible before. And this is OK; as a matter of fact, it's pretty neat. I wonder how many more generations of users will take this merging and make something new out of it. And then what that will mean for the older ways of doing things. Will the merging of print and Web with QR-Codes demote writing, or will it enhance its importance?

Truth be told, I don't know what will happen. Though I am enjoying parts of what is going on. It's mobile, and we are on the cusp of something pretty neat. And for this trip, I don't think I'll need to travel far to be in the mix with it.