I was lucky enough this morning to catch a bulk of the future of mobile panel from TechCrunch Disrupt. Thanks to TechCrunch’s live stream of the event, I was able to follow the discussion between Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley, Facebook’s Chris Cox, and Google’s Vic Gundotra from my office. TechCrunch is doing an amazing job of connecting the global web community to the event, live blogging, live streaming, and publishing countless articles throughout TC Disrupt.
Whenever you bring together three of the world’s leading thought leaders on any topic, you know the conversation is going to be interesting. The Future of Mobile Panel did not disappoint. Much of the conversation focused on the rise of contextually aware devices, and the importance of delivering actionable information at the local level. The panelists mused on the amazing rate of innovation happening in the mobile sector. They tempered their thoughts on the future of mobile technology against what’s going to have the greatest “product” impact over the next 6 – 12 months. Rather than getting lost in the clouds of mobile innovation over the next X years, Crowley framed his comments around the innovations that will allow him to improve the Foursquare user experience.
In reference to mobile innovation, Vic Gundotra of Google highlighted that we often overestimate what’s possible in a year and underestimate what’s possible in five years. “These devices are giong to be magical in five years.” As the conversation continued, a question arised asking if the term mobile will disappear in the future. It’s apoignant question. Given the rise of the always-connected consumer, the term mobile does, in fact, begin to fade away. There will be elements of ambient awareness built into different devices. Crowley riffed on the ability to “sniff what’s in the room,” leveraging one’s mobile device to receive contextually-relevant local information at all times (ex: identify specific people to connect with at a conference based on unique social and business behaviors).
Each panelist spoke from a position of vibrant optimism around the mobile sector. They, of course, are right to do so. Advancements in mobile technology will shape the movements between our digital and physical worlds for years to come. The concept of a mobile phone is being replaced by that of a robust mobile device. That which we once defined as functionality specific to a phone is being permanently transformed into new models of communication. Future mobile devices will enhance the speed, efficiency, and precision at which we perform daily activities.