Introduction
The current market is filled with many mobile devices. Consumers have adapted to the use of mobile phones to the extent that manufacturing companies are competing for the market share. According to the Monthly Economic Review (2013), personal computers in the first quarter on the year have decreased in sales. This is evident due to the numerous new smart mobile devices that are being introduced into the market each with new features that will entice the consumer. The variety of applications that can be used on the smartphones is increasing continuously. This is turning out to having a significant influence out how individuals are conducting both their personal and business lives. Currently, most of the smart mobile devices have touch screens, which make it easier to use than the conventional keyboards (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). Smart mobile devices have influenced the way individuals relate both in the family and social circles. Additionally, individuals can easily share ideas and communicate easily on the social networks. The smart mobile devices also come with fully installed applications that enhance user experience on the internet (Economic Monthly Review, 2013). However, smart mobile devices have also generated negative impacts on the lives of individuals and it is very critical to note these negative impacts and discuss their extent of influence. Therefore, both the positive and negative impacts of the smart mobile devices will be discussed.
Positive Impacts
Navigation
Currently, the activities and jobs of various individuals have demanded the need to travel to different places. The travel needs of many people in the population have increased tremendously. Certain jobs of individuals require them to travel to look for customers or may be required to deliver certain products or documents. The navigation or mobility is normally an overwhelming task. This can be attributed to the expansion of transport networks, which makes them become even more complex (Karimi, 2011). This becomes a bigger challenge when the travelers have no clue of the place where they are going. Further, the need to know the whereabouts of individuals as they travel has also generated the need to have a form of navigation assistance (Karimi, 2011). Parents have had the need to know the whereabouts of their teenagers. Devices to be used in navigation have existed from a long time, but the concept of mobile computing has allowed the navigation systems to be incorporated into smart mobile devices. Individuals can now use their smartphones to navigate to the destinations easily. Parents are now able to keep track of the movement of their children through certain navigation applications in the smart phones, which are able to show their exact locations. Employers, especially sales employers, are able to provide their salespersons with smart mobile devices that have a navigation application, which can be tracked and monitored from the central office. This helps in preventing the misuse of company resources.
Social Role to the Aging People and Disabled Persons
Smart mobile devices have been designed with certain features that make it easy for the aging individuals to use them. These features include video chats, entertainment apps and games (Steinfiled and Maisel, 2012). Therefore, grandparents can be able to interact freely with their grandchildren. Therefore, the smart mobile phones help to break the technological divide between the old and the new generation. Old persons usually have certain challenges such as eyesight. The smart mobile devices have large screens and together with the touchscreens make it easy for the old individuals to use them. Certain features incorporated in a smartphone such as the iPhone 4S makes it easier for the person with disabilities to use them. One of these features in this version of the iPhone is the Assistive Touch, which allows those individuals with limited dexterity to control the physical buttons on the screen easily (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). The iPhone also has a VoiceOver application that is designed to help visually impaired persons to use the touch interface. Additionally, it has the voice recognition assistant, Siri, which makes it easy for the old individuals to make reminders or find different places (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012).
Impact on Distance Education
Distance education has been a field that has been expanding. According to Fuegen (2012), the growth of distance education has been attributed to the need for flexibility in teaching and learning. This has been fostered by the increasing number of individuals acquiring smart phones. Fuegen (2012) indicates that data from the Pew Research Center, in 2012, showed that 46% of the adult population in America owned a smartphone. Other mobile devices that have influenced the distance learning education include e-book readers, which are small lightweight devices used for reading digital texts, for instance, electronic books and PDF documents and tablets, which are similar in nature to smartphones but are usually larger in size (Fuegen, 2012).
Individuals normally carry the smart mobile devices wherever they go and this makes it ideal for increasing the potential of learning through using these smart mobile devices. Adult students who find it difficult to learn in structured environments because of other social commitments such as work and family are embracing the idea of distance learning via smart mobile devices (Moore, 2007). Several applications such as course management applications, virtual field trips, and listening to course lectures via the smart mobile devices enhance the learning experience of the student (Fuegen, 2012). Additionally, the smart mobile devices software can be customized to suit the needs of individual students.
Consumer Shopping and Decision Making
Companies utilizing mobile marketing have been increasing. Marketing companies have been able to reap the benefits of consumers having access to smart mobile devices. According to Karaatli, Ma, and Suntornpithug (2010), smart mobile technology has allowed or made it easier to target individual consumers, which has resulted to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of mobile marketing. In addition, the increased need of connectivity of consumers and the need of convenience is promoting muse of mobile applications in consumer purchasing. Consumers engage in mobile marketing with the need to enjoy certain cost benefits that are associated with mobile transactions. Markets continue to develop new marketing applications for the smart mobile devices, which are likely to influence how consumers make the purchasing decisions. According to Close (2012), consumers are using their smart mobile devices to search for store hours, gather information, read reviews, and download shopping applications. Further, consumers can easily compare product prices from different online stores. The consumers are putting more demands on online companies to provide more in terms of retail shopping and experiences. The online shopping experience using the smart mobile devices is becoming more prevalent. It has become the online version of window-shopping.
Sharing and Communication
The development of new technologies have led to the development of social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn which individuals use to stay connected with families, business associates and friends. Social networking applications are now being developed for the smart mobile devices. According to Sarmiento and Lopez (2011), smart mobile phones increase access to social networks, which allows individuals to share information and access shared videos and images.
Enhancing Business and Performance of Work Related Tasks
Smart mobile devices such as BlackBerrys, Q-phones and iPhones, have become a business necessity (Krizan, Merrier, Logan, and Williams, 2010). Businesses both large and small have increased their investments in the smart mobile devices technology to enhance communication and increase their productivity. The smart mobile devices promote wireless communication, which in today’s world forms a key part of the organization performance (Krizan, Merrier, Logan, and Williams, 2010). Managers are able to plan their calendars and schedule appointments on their smart mobile devices eliminating the need of having staff to do the same job. This somehow helps the organization to cut labor costs. Organizations such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can be able to provide health information via podcasts, which are easily accessible via the smart mobile devices. Broker banks have also adopted the use of smart mobile devices in conducting their businesses. According to Cox (2006), a mobile application in the smart phones allows the sales representative to access various account data. The smart phones have eMobile software, which allows the smart phone to connect to customer relationship management (CRM) data (Cox, 2006).
Negative Impacts
Data security and Privacy
The use of smart phones has made access of data in various organizations easy. Employees are now being able to access organization data using their company-owned smart phones. The smart phones allow them to synchronize the company’s email servers and save work related documents in the smart mobile devices (Roberson and Mimbi, 2011). Some employees also synchronize their personal smart phones with the company’s email servers. However, this introduces security challenges and may lead to confidential company data being compromised. The increased use of personal smart phone devices to access business data and conduct business activities has provided more freedom for the employees. The use has been attributed to certain aspects such as prestige when using smart mobile devices, which essentially are not vital in the running of business activities (Roberson and Mimbi, 2011). Smart mobile devices such as iPods in the work place present a major threat to corporate data security (Roberson and Mimbi, 2011). Consequently, when employees decide to use their personal smart mobile devices for conducting their company’s business they may experience issues of privacy intrusion. Certain companies may require the access of an employee’s smart mobile device in a situation where it suspects an incident of data security compromise.
Compromising of Morals in the Society
Smart mobile devices are internet enabled thus allow easy access to various internet sites. One can argue that the smart mobile devices have increased access to pornographic material especially to the youth. According to Owens, Behun, Manning and Reid (2012) having mobile devices that can access the internet make it easy for individual to access, consume, create and distribute sexually explicit content. In most cases, the youth will accidentally encounter pornographic material while trying to explore the internet capabilities of the smart mobile devices. Further, it becomes easy for individuals to be involved in piracy through illegal downloads. Individuals who like to access certain images or pictures may easily share them on the social networks without the authority of the owner and this may lead to copyright infringement.
Decreased Social Skills
The use of smart mobile phones has created an environment where to communicate one has to share or post something on the internet. Instances of individuals being glued to their smart mobile devices in office, public places and in homes is a common scenario. Parents are finding it difficult to connect with their children who mostly spend their spare time enjoying the features of the smart mobile devices. The increased use of smartphones by the children implies that they are more involved in chatting and browsing, which reduces attention to schoolwork and reading of books (Lunenburg and Ornstein, 2011).
Conclusion
Smart mobile devices are projected to increase in the market, and their use is thus expected to increase. The smart mobile devices provide numerous positive influences to the lives of individuals, both personal and at work. However, there are certain negative aspects that the smart mobile devices promote, which tend to influence the life of individuals negatively. As the increase in use of smart mobile device increases, it becomes critical to develop structures that will prevent abuse of these devices both on the personal and work life of individuals.
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