More Net-Worked, Less Connected

During a discussion about social and cultural changes in our Marketing class, a couple of students commented on the networked students of today. Their insight- that students get together but each one is on his/her own, just spending time with the phone. The students also reported that they did not feel that they were spending time with their friends. Another student said that her friends hardly ever made a phone call on their mobiles, using texting instead. What about the consequences? They were apprehensive about the impact on their communication skills and social skills.

Can You Hear Me Now? Data Overwhelming Cell Networks - NYTimes.com: "As the popularity of smartphones continues to grow, the challenge, on a global scale, may only get greater. The European network equipment makers Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent expect data traffic on the world’s mobile networks to increase 30 times through 2015. Huawei, a Chinese competitor, expects the traffic level to rise 500 times by 2020.

The number of mobile broadband subscribers, which was 600 million at the end of 2010, is expected to almost double this year to a billion and climb to five billion in 2016. Mobile network capacity will need to increase 20 to 25 times to handle that growing load, said Hans Vestberg, the Ericsson chief executive.

“In the future, we are going to live in a truly networked society,” Mr. Vestberg said. “This is going to have a tremendous influence on us and our lives.”"