Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2011

Abstract

The convergences of Web-ready mobile tools and applications have changed how we interact with our physical and virtual environments. Web-ready mobile devices (particularly smartphones, but tablets and Wi-Fi ready MP3 players are also on the increase) have supplanted the traditional desktop computer. According to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, a February 7, 2011, press release noted that “Smartphone manufacturers shipped 100.9 million devices in the fourth quarter of 2010...PC manufacturers shipped 92.1 million units” (IDC). For the first time ever, smartphones have outsold traditional desktop computers. This is telling on several levels, the most salient being that our mode of interaction with information in any form (play, work, school, homework, etc.) has shifted from a static environment (wired computer) to a highly mobile one. We are moving (literally!) to on-the-go computing and manage a great deal of our everyday affairs via mobile handheld devices.

Copyright Statement

This document was originally published by the Idaho Library Association in The Idaho Librarian. This work is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Details regarding the use of this work can be found at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. http://theidaholibrarian.wordpress.com/

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