[Web4lib] 233 Million Chinese Use Mobile Phones To Access The Internet

Tue Jun 8 22:40:34 EDT 2010

I think Gerry's enthusiasm for highlighting the importance of mobile
internet access is somewhat justified, but I also think that the
implications of posts like this one are not adequately developed.

A few observations and conjectures:

(1) With the rise of smart phones (thank you Steve Jobs), personal mobile
access to the Internet has finally become effective and nearly ubiquitous.
 I have to wonder, however, whether during the transition to this state of
affairs there has been a decline in voice use of mobile phones.  That is an
interesting question, but in this message only a prelude to observing that
mobile phones per se may have democratized mobile web access, but that the
arrival of the i-Pad probably heralds a much more satisfying and effective
set of alternatives into the future.   Either larger format display devices
will acquire more voice communication features, or phone technology per se
will continue to improve as a user experience in parallel.  I have used
smartphone access to the web for over ten years now, but for reasons having
relatively little to do with the fact that its also a phone.  I suspect that
dramatic improvements in the user experience of personal portable web access
will supplant most phone use as a general web access device while the
ability of the phones to incorporate access to the internet into the process
of completing voice connections will improve independently.

(2) About China:  In my personal view, there is nothing startling about the
rise of phone-based internet access in China.  Its a no brainer for them to
embrace robust mobile communication rather than string telephone,  cable,
and fiber optic circuits everywhere.  Of course, their aggressive
utilization of the technology has implications, but again it is not in the
least surprising given the sheer attractiveness of it to people who have
been without widespread sophisticated communication infrastructure for so
long.  But the real lesson here is one we keep avoiding: it didn't happen
"here" the same way because of huge vested interest in existing
infrastructure.  We are not nimble for several reasons, but the worst has to
be that the industries which provide the existing infrastructure are married
to doing things that way and have both economic and political clout.  We
still have competition in, say America, but it struggles mightily against
monopoly or near-monopoly interests.  China did not have this problem ---
though one day they probably will.

(3) We are in a state of enormous flux which is still accelerating.  Lots of
manifestations of ingenuity seem more profound and powerful than they are.
 Sure, the Iranian almost-revolution was an exercise in using Twitter, but
it did not win the battle for them did it?  Based on the trivial idea of
broadcasting, Twitter is a very simple thing , but when the novelty wears
off (if it hasn't already) there will be some reckoning.  Like... the sudden
realization that Twitter is not particularly ingenious and it will be
functionally supplanted by lots of integrated and free-standing alternatives
in the future.  Similarly, After an entire generation has gleefully
destroyed its privacy, there is likely to be a backlash of sorts and
something more palatable than Facebook as we know it will likely emerge --
though I am sure Zuckerman will work hard to redefine his creation to keep
up, I still remember that AOL failed to take over the world -- even after
hoodwinking a media giant into thinking that it would. (That was Time-Warner
for those not following along -- now perhaps the single largest target of
ridicule in Business Schools and a worse bad memory for Ted Turner than even
Rupert Murdock)   My point----   its fun (but exhausting) to become enamored
with each new methodology for exploiting ubiquitous personal communication,
but if you interrupt speed dating by trying to actually marry a bunch of
your partners you are guaranteed to have a lot of divorces and to consume
your assets in the process.

In short, its not about being a Luddite or not.  It is about figuring out
how to intelligently harvest the best and most durable of the systems that
are out there without spending all of your awake time doing it.   The world
has a lot of problems to be solved.  Pick and choose soberly.  Identify
what, if anything, is truly profound and durable.  Don't fall in love with a
jerk (I cleaned up that last one -- use your imagination).  I love that
Gerry does what he does -- I for one could never compete, but neither do I
want to.

On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 7:32 PM, gerrymck <gerry.mckiernan at gmail.com> wrote:

> I. Endeavors to Spur the Development and Application of the Internet
>
> [snip]
>
> The construction and improvement of the Internet infrastructure has beefed
> up the spread and application of the Internet. By the end of 2009 the
> number
> of Chinese netizens had reached 384 million, 618 times that of 1997 and an
> annual increase of 31.95 million users. In addition, the Internet had
> reached 28.9% of the total population, higher than the world average. At
> the
> same time, there were 3.23 million websites running in China, which was
> 2,152 times that of 1997. The number of IPv4 addresses approached 230
> million, making China the second-largest owner in the world. Of all the
> netizens, 346 million used broadband and 233 million used mobile phones to
> access the Internet. They had moved on from dialing the access numbers to
> broadband and mobile phones. These statistics make China among the top of
> the developing countries in developing and popularizing the Internet.
>
> [snip]
>
> !!! Thanks To Michiel de Lange For The Tweet !!!
>
> BTW: As I've Highlighted In More Than One Posting /vPresentation >>>
>
> "In December 2008, the Pew Internet & American Life Project released The
> Future of the Internet III, the third in a series of surveys of Internet
> leaders, activists and analysts that elicited their views on emerging Net
> and Web developments. In this most recent review, an overwhelming majority
> of experts predicted that by 2020 the mobile device will become the primary
> connection tool to the Internet for most individuals worldwide.", You
> Luddites !!1 [:-(
>
> For My Colleagues Still Living In The 20th Century >>> Get A Clue >>>  /
> I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Not Goin' To Take This Any More >>
>
> Full Text And Associated Links Available At
>
> [ http://tinyurl.com/26ez7e7 ]
>
> EnJOY !
>
> /Gerry
>
> Gerry McKiernan
> Associate Professor
> Science and Technology Librarian
> Iowa State University Library
> Ames IA 50011
>
> Follow Me On Twitter > http://twitter.com/GMcKBlogs
>
> >>> "The Future Is Mobile" >>>
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>
>

-- 
Steven E. Patamia, Ph.D., J.D.
Personal Cell: (352) 219-6592