Calling smart phones “phones” seems sillier all the time. They are rather a multifaceted networked sensing device with various inputs and instruments that analyze reality states connected in real time to cloud servers with an ever expanding array of services.
Yes they can be used for phone calls…but that doesn’t begin to cover the “super computing” power in your pocket that is connected to the super duper computing power in the cloud.
We haven’t discovered yet all that can be…and more sensors and more power and better bandwidth and augmented reality and virtual reality interfaces are constantly being added to the mix.
Talk about plugged in! One might use the words “learning platform” as a way to describe what this “thing” is. At least that’s one of it’s very promising uses. Now we just have to imagine what we can and should do with a “thing” that powerful, to promote learning.
One thing it emphasizes above all is the transcendence of physical space. The physical classroom / warehouse for children might be needed for some purposes, but as a place to gather together for learning from an “instructor”, its necessity is fading with each new mobile capability that is developed.
Here’s a FastCompany post/ story, kudos to Gary for the link.
Photographic memory, instant artworks, instantaneous translation, lifelike virtual reality and much more are all coming to your pocket.