Connected-ness-

It was time. I was due, and it was time. Time to upgrade my phone. The Apple iPhone 3GS was available from AT&T for free. I like free. So, I went. I talked to the people. I got a new phone (and a new contract) for free, in a very relative sense of what 'free' actually means. The contract really was no problem, since I find AT&T adequate and affordable. So, free was pretty much free.

I don't know if I have ever been at the forefront of the curve on developing technology, or any other aspect of modern life. I recall a friend who bought the newest of everything. He was young, single, and had a good disposable income. None of those have applied to me for a great many years. I pick up stuff over time, and ride far back from the cutting edge.

Anyway, I have an iPhone. Not the 4GS, which is costly. The 3GS. It is wonderful. I can check my email anywhere. Granted, I have already set the device to avoid needlessly updating everything over the cell network. I have the cheapest data plan, and really don't need to update that frequently. Costly. However, I now have power far beyond what I had with my orphaned LG View.

When linked to a WiFi network I can do lots of stuff for free. Watch videos. Update my blog as if I were on my computer. Send and receive texts and emails. I can now better understand how so much of the world has bypassed the desktop-laptop-mobile evolution and simply jumped in with mobile devices. This thing is a little computer. Granted, typing on it is not altogether pleasant, but then it is not my primary device for communication.

This power is now available to multitudes. The 'third world' does not exist in the virtual realm. Will this expansion of communication lead to broader freedoms and the exportation of 'democracy?' Perhaps. Or, will the Powerful Elite use the tracking capability of these devices to further control the populace? These are interesting times.

Banking is done over these devices. Not just communication, but commerce. I recently read of Africans who figured out how to use their cell phone accounts to create virtual banks and exchange networks. The cobbled grass-roots system was so successful that the phone and banking industries in those countries are attempting to capture what had evolved and turn it to their own purposes.

So, here I am, still behind the cutting edge, far back on the curve. Yet I have more power and greater connectivity than ever before. It is rather nice, very useful and often interesting. Most importantly, I am having fun.

Perhaps it is time I find out what 'Angry Birds' is all about.