A friend’s two year old presses the home button the iPhone 5 and says out loud, “Chu Chu”. Siri obliges and starts playing nursery rhymes from the popular YouTube channel of the same name. Kids these days are more adept at flipping through books on tablets than real books. I once had the extreme pleasure of watching a 1.5 year old try and tap on a magazine and look befuddled when it didn’t flip a page.
New smart phones and their operating systems have changed the way we communicate. Voice searches that really work, Virtual assistants that make hands free operation a reality, and Google Now cards that keep track of where you parked your car, and suggests the best drive routes home or restaurants close by based on past check-ins are altering life as we know it.
To see the true impact of these devices, look at children interacting with them. When toddlers would destroy real books, they intuitively find, access and browse thru the virtual version with minimal or no help. With 44% users using smartphone globally, these little devices are altering human behavior, physiology and psychology. Researchers have found that smartphone use is changing the way our thumbs and brains interact and may even be reshaping our brains. Having evolved as a handy devices that would let busy business executives’ deal with email, they can replace a surprisingly long list of devices. They have become ingrained in our lifestyle and keep us linked to family, friends and the world, and sits as the control valve of a firehose of information that can be switched on in an instant.  Their role in shaping human interaction in the 21st century has been as dramatic as it is far-reaching. The world is changing and the smartphone is driving the change, From starting revolutions in the middle east, to forcing government to take Hong Kong protestors seriously, this little gadget that barely weighs a 100 grams and is thinner than your average tabloid is just reaching the zenith of its capabilities.
Google and the other giants envision a device that will with wearable will augment reality, pay for purchase with a tap, help diagnose and treat disease, and be a teaching aid in remote areas. Its literally giving humans superpowers and giving us the real power to change the world one swipe at a time.