Here’s an article on the inevitable technological changes quickly taking place. Soon we will not communicate to one another via phone, it will be video conferencing, from our homes or smart phones. The smart phone will eventually become our identification to our homes and businesses. It’s not that far away either. [...CK]
The Future is Connectivity, Research Group Says
And that future, apparently, is now with an integration of devices, networks and content.
May 02, 2011 | by Steven Castle
Microsoft’s Kinect motion interface for Xbox sold 10 million in its first few months by connecting people to their friends, smartphone app revenue is set to triple between 2011 and 2014, and e-books are very much on the rise, says research firm the Yankee Group.
In both a webinar titled “Connected Experience: The Next Frontier” and a report, “The Next Tipping Point: the Connected Experience,” the Yankee Group outlines how connectivity is shaping how we interact with the world and the products and technologies we use.
According to Yankee Group:
- Fast 4G networks will garner 30 million consumers by 2012.
- Cloud revenue will exceed $22 billion by 2014.
- Smartphone app revenue will more than triple between 2011 and 2014, from $8.6 billion in 2011 to $26.5 billion in 2014.
- E-book sales will grow from $1.4 billion in 2011 to nearly $3b by 2013.
Ebooks aren’t just about reading on an Amazon Kindle, iPad or other device. “E-books deliver new connected experiences, including anywhere buying, scalable fonts and text-to-speech conversion,” Yankee Group’s report states. “E-books not only create new opportunities to consume books, but also new creative outlets for people.” Successful e-book authors are marketing themselves on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
“Social media is changing the way we work and communicate with each other,” says Zeus Kerravala, a research fellow with Yankee Group. “I think social media will replace email.”
Carl Howe, director for Yankee Group’s Anywhere Consumer research group, says consumers are demanding connected experiences via a seamless engagement of networks, devices and content.”
Connectivity is even being used to get people to embrace energy management solutions that can save them money in their homes and businesses.
“Connectivity is faster and cheaper than any other time on history, and that’s why I think it’s going to take off even faster,” says Kerravala.
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