A loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires, baby...
Submitted by brian s hall on 6 April, 2010 - 09:51
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As Paul Simon also said, "these are the days of miracle and wonder."
This site isn't really about smartphones, which I love. No, it's about helping us all get through the tremendous economic, social and political changes that will impact each of us and the planet over just the next few years.
Think of all the major transformations in history. And I don't mean, say, India liberating itself from British rule, for example. I'm talking about complete global wide tranformations, such as going from rural to urban, from agriculture to manufacturing.
At their most basic, these transformative ages increased the power and economic potential of an ever-expanding majority of people. The playing field became more level. Think of the progression from lords and serfs to a more open, democratic, economically vibrant setting. In my view, the smartphone embodies the very technology, access, connectivity and potential to shift the planet to a new and permanently transformative leveling of power and wealth and access and opportunity. I term this the 'Great Leveling.'
And we are only at the beginning of this period.
Yet by 2016 it will be fully embedded throughout the world, altering media and business and markets and commerce and interactivity and power and mobility and wealth. In just six short years we will have a difficult time recognizing today's reality. The smartphone is the computer. It is the umifying device of our work and play and access and information. And in 6 years a billion people will have one. Probably more than a billion people, in fact.
Ultimately, this is a good thing. The history of humanity has been the expansion of opportunity and potential and a leveling of power and potential across all people. Ultimately, this Great Leveling gets us closer to a more open, intelligent, peaceful and bountiful world -- think the Federation of Planets from Star Trek. It's just the in-between that's the real bitch. Which is why there are those days when I open up a news app on my iPhone and merely glance at the headlines and want to stay indoors, forever:
- Coal mine blast kills 25
- 7 explosions kill dozens in Baghdad
- 72 police killed in Indian Maoist assault
It goes on like that...