Rarely are we afforded the luxury of watching history unfold before our eyes. The history and evolution of the telephone is one notable instance.

Your Grandmother’s phone number was probably four digits. Then, a phone was for talking. It was a large, heavy, black thing that was securely attached by a large wire to the wall. It was used to talk to family, your doctor, and the occasional police or fire department emergency. Long distance – outside your town – was expensive and people kept long distance calls to a minimum. People listened to Harry Truman on the radio and gas was 15 cents a gallon.

No one would have foreseen that the basic instrument would evolve into a hand held, wireless mobile instrument and then become a PDA, iPod, Video Camera and TV capture and Play-back, Stills Camera, Internet Access, Electronic Wallet, and GPS capable of communications and entertainment on a world wide scale.

The two-generation leap forward in capabilities is astonishing but the next human generation will see changes that will make science fictions seem sedate. While you are trying to get comfortqable with that jump, consider the improvements that will likely happened to this mobile instrument.

The biggest change will be society’s move from written and stills images to full motion, color, and voice video communication. You will be on someone’s TV constantly, particularly when you are in public. A few more of the likely capabilities and applications are:

• Video everywhere, every time, every place, worldwide
• Financial services from credit card functions to securities trading
• Government certifications for Social Security, Medicare, Driver’s Licenses
• Purchases profiling and history
• Travel profiling and history
• Food purchase analysis
• Health history and analysis
• Real-time health testing
• Medication dispensary
• Personal safety –assistance and EMF
• Real-time visual preview of areas of interest to be visited
• Reservations for food, travel and lodging
• Restaurant and Store locations
• Family and Friends location and proximity alerts
• Postage and shipping alerts

This list is woefully short and inadequate but it should start you thinking about how important this instrument will become.

Said another way, the palm-top form factor is the Super-computer of tomorrow and in combination with the Internet represents the largest leap forward in personal services in the history of the planet! This is not just another step but one that is millions of times more powerful than it’s predecessors.

Society will evolve toward a system with the smartest and most educated and aggressive people on top. Most people will have the financial capability of purchasing a mobile phone. The differences will come from those that know how to use it and understand its interrelationship with people and markets.

Two extremes will push the boundaries of today’s values … the wealthy will get much richer and the elderly will get much older. Why? The increased wireless communication will let the smartest gain wealth and grow it constantly while maintaining a healthy well-monitored lifestyle. It is your digital persona.

For most purposes, transactions and contacts, your digital representation will be the real you and the representation most people will ever know or encounter.

Views from Lisa Wellman & Terry Wellman

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