Arguably the most important invention ever is the telephone. It enabled people to communicate much more quickly and easily than previously, with no technical knowledge. Since then, telephone technology has increased at a dramatic rate, leading to the development of mobile phones, and since then, smart phones.
When mobile phone technology first became available to the general public it was in the form of car phones. Mobile phones were the size of bricks, although slightly less heavy! During the 1980s the phones became smaller and into the 90s new features such as SMS messaging became available. Now texting is the most common form of communication among young people in many developed countries.
Where will phone technology go from here? Well we have already seen the development of smart phones with internet access and a variety of apps to cover every need. Phones are becoming more like computers and soon it will be hard to distinguish one from the other, unless by size.
In the future, the memory available on smart phones will increase. They may become so powerful that we will no longer need mp3 players, cameras, computers or electronic reading devices.
Unfortunately, however, powerful phone technology becomes, it will always be prone to occasional human stupidity and you will still need to have a back up plan in case your phone becomes lost, damaged, or is stolen.
