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Mobile Mania
Sunayana Murthy, Performance Consultant, The Business Workshop

Communication, in today's day and age.has certainly come a long way from carrier pigeons to Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and General Packet Radio Systems (GPRS). As intimidating as these terminologies sound, they form the basis of "instant communication" today, something we so often take for granted.

To illustrate how dramatically technology has changed the face of communication today, there is no better example than the ubiquitous mobile phone. Today, while some have greater value for its utility, there are others who believe it to be the ultimate status symbol. It is this mobile madness that translates into a projected 1 billion mobile users all over the world by the year 2004 according to the mobile giant Ericsson.

Another recent survey shows the mobile market in India growing at a rate of 79% annually. The total number of subscribers had already reached a whopping 21,80,000 in June 2000!! Its probably not so much to do with India's population, but the sheer pervasiveness of this tiny little instrument that never leaves our side.

The extent to which this marvel of technology has taken over our lives is overwhelming. We speak of Wireless Application Protocol which in very simplistic terms allows mobile users to access the Internet from their phones. Its probably the most talked about thing in mobile circles today. Or was it yesterday ?! Here's a bit of news for you. WAP phones are soon going to be obsolete, because of the "lack of speed" in transferring data.

We are now talking of 3 generation or 3G phones! In fact, in Japan and in many Scandinavian countries, people are using their mobile phones to buy soft drinks from vending machines, movies tickets over the web and even transferring money from one account to another, just with the click of a button.

And if that's not enough, the world of communication is slowly moving away from voice, to data. Telephone calls are soon going to be passe. Voice will now be digitized and will be combined or "bundled" together with other services such as email, text graphics and video. No more shall one be charged for individual phone calls, instead we will be paying monthly bills for a combination of all these bundled services. Interestingly, as a result of these developments, many telecom companies will now be competing with Internet and cable companies to provide these services.

As our world converges further, with the advent of these technologies, the obvious question is... what becomes of the individual ? It goes without saying that our lives will become easier, faster and definitely more "efficient!"

It is up to us to embrace these technologies, to understand the power they have to enhance our lives, be it surfing the net with the help of your phone, having virtual meetings with clients thousands of miles away, or even using those minuscule mobiles as credit cards.

So ,for those of us who are still struggling with SMS services or still think mobiles are only meant for calling people, its time to buckle up and get ready for a technological joyride. As they say - if you can't beat them, join 'em!!