Mobile Devices Will Outnumber People By 2017 130
DavidGilbert99 writes "According to the latest report from analysts at CCS Insight, there will be more mobile phones and tablets in use in four years' time than there are people on the planet. With the machines well and truly taking over, will we be using them or will they be controlling us?"
Sold != in use (Score:4, Insightful)
TFA contends that all smartphones & tablets sold are still in use. If you buy a new smartphone and throw away / recycle the old one, you don't get to count this as 2 smartphones in use.
Eh. (Score:5, Insightful)
They won't "control" us in any cool, malevolent-supercomputer-overlord, kind of way; but I'll confidently predict a downright alarming number of man hours spent drooling mindlessly and poking at the blinky lights that live behind the glass on the shiny thing.
It's too bad, really. Getting crushed by a malevolent supercomputer would be flattering in a way(just like being assassinated, only people worth mentioning get that). The fact that humans will spend time sucking up to a Tamagotchi if you let them is... rather less flattering.
Looks around.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Let's see, everybody in this household has a phone, tablet and we have a netbook. 7 devices for 3 people.
Yeah, I can see mobile devices outnumbering people.
Realistically, tablets will always exist next to phones. Some people might like "phablets" but form-factor matters. A phone can replace a camera, can have a lot of handy apps, but is lousy for reading, browsing and video compared to a tablet (yes, they can be done, but... ugh). In short, the tablet and smart phone are two form factors that will likely be useful for some time.
Not sure where the "smart watch" will fit in, I see it more useful as a peripheral for your phone, but some people may see it as a replacement for the phone, and supplementing as a hotspot for a tablet (which then handles everything your phone might have). That's still two devices per person, as a reasonable "data and communications tool set"
They are multiplying like flies! (Score:4, Insightful)
I carry two smartphones, have an ipad and a Nexus 7... oh and a kindle that I use when I travel... Actually I have 4 Nexus 7's.. 3 are broken ones friends gave me. and I believe I'll have a couple more broken ones soon, those replicate fast.
So yes, if people keep breaking nexus 7's I'll have 100,000 of them by the end of the year... all broken..
It's so breathless! (Score:5, Insightful)
Right this moment, there are more ears of corn in use than there are people on the planet. Will we be eating them, or will they be eating us?
Seriously... having lots of something doesn't automatically change its nature.
Chairs are taking over the world (Score:2, Insightful)
I am sitting in a conference room at work right now that has enough chairs for everyone at my small company to sit in. There is also a chair for me in my office, another at my desk at home, and one more in the dining room! And just think of all those chairs at restaurants around the world just waiting for me to sit in them! In fact, a recent study determined that there are 4.6 chairs for every man, woman, and child on the planet (I'll have to get back to you with the reference on that one). Basically the world has been conquered by chairs without us even realizing it.
Re:Define "In Use" (Score:5, Insightful)
Tablets are horrible for reading ebooks. They smudge easily, they strain the eyes, and the battery life won't support reading for an extended period. An e-ink reader is orders of magnitude better.