The speed of change in the digital economy

Death of the phone call

In 2009, the United States crossed a digital Rubicon : for the first time, the amount of data sent with mobile devices exceeded the sum of transmitted voice data. We’re moving, in other words, toward a fascinating cultural transition: the death of the telephone call. This shift is particularly stark among the young generation.

A move towards a form of Constant Light-Weight Connectivity

Writing in Wired journalist Clive Thompson observed that this young generation doesn’t make phone calls,because everyone is in constant, lightweight contact in so many other ways: texting, chatting, and social-network messaging. And we don’t just have more options than we used to. We have better ones: These new forms of communication have exposed the fact that the voice call is badly designed. It deserves to die. The telephone doesn’t provide any information about the status, so we are constantly interrupting one another. Phone calls are rude. Intrusive. Awkward. The other tools at our disposal are more polite. Instant messaging, for example, lets us detect whether our friends are busy without interrupting them. We expect to communicate on our own terms, and at a time that suits us.

 “We are therefore paradoxically becoming an incredibly disconnected connected society”. Our society has moved towards a form of “Constant Light-Weight Connectivity,” and successful businesses will have to take note of this.

Related post: Calm technologies