This innovator says that there are too many smartphones which causes ‘data overload’
During a lecture that was titled “The Internet of Me: It’s All About My Screens” and was held at The University of Manchester, Robert Schukai from Thomson Reuters spoke about how smartphones revolutionized the world we live. He also managed to speak about a very important sub-topic; the fact that data is now everywhere, and managing and processing so much information poses enormous challenges for consumers and service providers alike.
According to the lecture given, Schukai stated that overall mobile subscriptions are set to jump by 1.7 billion over the next five years to 9.1 billion. In the future, 4.1 billion people of these will sign up to 4G technology, and almost 70 percent of all mobile traffic data is projected to be categorized under video streaming by 2021. Since people are constantly connected while they are at home or on the go, their work and personal lives are blending into one another.
Mr. Schukai said the following during the lecture:
“Today, many people kick off their day by reading emails in bed and getting a start on the day before their commute. Our devices let us remain in contact with family members and friends throughout the day, and when we go home at night, colleagues still reach out and contact many of us until bedtime. Companies of the future must be ready to deliver information and answers on any screen at any time, but they must also respect the boundaries demanded by the end user. This will compel companies to better understand their users, gain their trust and enable them to opt in to the ‘dayflow’ with relevance and usefulness. Right now Google understands my browsing history on my desktop, knows my location and understands my interests – as such, it proactively pushes content to me. In the future, it will recognize and learn what I care about, understand what I can and can’t do on a device, and strike a balance between anticipate, push and pull of content.”
This slow change to how we live right now presents major challenges in balancing the delivery of information and content to people without it becoming overwhelming. According to him, human interaction with one another could also subside due to prolonged usage on their mobile devices. The lecture also concluded that engineering is fundamental to everyday life, and Robert’s focus on the remarkable adoption of smartphones and its impact on how we live our lives at work and at home emphasizes this point.
It was also stated that engineering is not a measure of nuts, bolts and girders, but about life changing innovation too.
