The market research firm Gartner recently released their latest analysis suggesting that smart phones will be smarter than their users by 2017. This will happen as cognizant computing matures to include four phases: sync me, see me, know me and be me. More specifically:
Sync me includes the ability to store copies of digital assets and sync them across devices. See me includes the ability to track history and context, such as where a user is and has been and his or her mood. These first two phases are already under way.
The next phase, know me, includes the ability for phones to understand what a user wants or needs and present it to them without being asked. In the fourth phase, be me, the devices will act on behalf of their users “based on learned or explicit rules,” according to the company.
So What?
The way we people use smartphones today was unimaginable a decade ago. The possibilities of how cognizant computing via smartphones may impact our daily lives within a few years represents an even more significant shift.
- List some of the ways you rely on your smartphone to help manage your life.
- Are you likely to be an early adopter of new functionality in the years ahead? Why or why not?
- As smart phones get smarter, how might this impact your congregation?