Jake JeffriesAugust 1994 a legend was born that would not only shape the business world, but the way we live our lives today.
He has traveled the world from Texas to Hong Kong, he has been in more bedrooms than James Bond and in more boardrooms than Donald Trump. He has mixed with the rich and famous from Royalty to movie stars, and has been thrown out more times than he can remember.
So without further ado I introduce to you Simon, the IBM Simon Personal Communicator – the world’s first smartphone.
Simon was a maverick, the first of his kind, and like most geniuses was not appreciated at his time. He was a portable phone that could take notes, had software apps, and could even send emails.
However there was no mobile internet so sending those emails was a little tricky to say the least, and battery power? Simon would struggle to go past an hour without getting tired and falling asleep.
So how has Simon and his latest crop of smartphone siblings changed the way we live?
They’ve changed the business world, everything from selling and marketing our business, to conducting and creating our business.
“The portable phone has changed the way we communicate – the smartphone has changed the way we live.”
Our customer journeys used to be from the shelves to the till and now they’ve moved from our thumb to the shopping cart.
Smartphone numbers are increasing rapidly everyday with usage. Improved mobile internet coverage means that the need for desktops is in decline, and the amount of people who use the smartphones as their only source of internet is on the up.
With the increase in purchases being made through the smartphone, it doesn’t take Bill Gates to realise that a shift to marketing to our customers through the smartphone, would be very beneficial.
This shift has become very apparent with the big brands and businesses, from expensive TV adverts to simple effective mobile campaigns and texts, evolution has begun.
Mobile marketing has huge advantages, untouchable open rates, desirable response rates, low cost and simple – but most of all, it’s what your customer wants.
Source: Text Marketer
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