Mobile Computing

If you haven’t read my previous article about internet and Pc, please read it here.

(Image retrieved from: http://www.globalgrind.com)

Wikipedia defines Mobile Computing as “Human Computer Interaction by which the computer is expected to be transported during normal usage”. While the PC started taking computing machines to everyday consumer, mobile computing has really infiltrated average consumer market and revolutionized computing as a whole. Mobile computing is spreading faster than any other consumer technology in history. It has opened up new possibilities for human interaction by enabling the continuation of the computing experience regardless of geographical location. Smart phones have revolutionized not just computing but society as a whole since it’s ability to connect people in a very convenient and personal way.

Mobile computing is mainly delivered at present via smart phones and tablets; however it applies equally to PDAs, in vehicle computers, electronic readers, wearable computers etc...At present the mobile computing market is divided in to 3 main platforms namely Apple iOS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows.

Innovation in mobile computing can be categorised in to hardware, software and process. Hardware innovations can be seen around areas such as device power management, touch screens, material design for portability etc… An everyday smart watch at present is deemed to packs more computing power than the super computers that took Apollo 11 to the moon. This feat is mainly due to innovations in engineering practices such as materials, electronics and design powered by sheer competitive nature of the market. Devices on the brink of mass scale usage such as Google Glass and Agent smart watch will continue to expand the boundaries of mobile hardware technologies.

(Google glass  Image retrieved by: http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-glass-macro.jpg)

Although initial focus on mobile computing was mainly around its hardware, an increasing amount of attention is give to Software. Whole new software areas like mobile apps, location aware programming, and inter-device communication are developing every day thanks to the population of mobile computing. The open nature of the platforms enabling anyone with right skills to build and distribute software for mobile devices has feed the exponential adaptation of mobile computing among general public. 

Another aspect of mobile computing is its contributions to engineering and management practices such as industrial design, supply chain management and mass scale production/distribution. Global companies like Apple or Samsung are heavily dependent on a highly optimized and synchronized set of engineering and management processes to churn out quality devices in millions each day.

 Mobile computing posses its own engineering and social challenges like security, privacy, inconsistent connectivity, potential health hazards and quality of interaction. Regardless of these challenges mobile computing is expected to play a major role in the future of computing.