Slogans, such as the Apple’s iPhone slogan above, have become mainstream as the demand for smartphones has increased. I briefly discussed the advantages of smartphones in an earlier post, but I wanted to explore this growing technology further. How useful are smartphones for accessing news, particularly political news? Do people typically use them for this purpose?
My interest in this topic was sparked by the fact that my phone recently broke, and I spent the past week without a phone. The experience was excruciating. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but needless to say it was difficult. Throughout the week, I became an avid Facebook user – even more avid than I already am. Facebook messages, Facebook chat and Twitter became my main sources of communication. I wondered what it would be like to access these sites on my phone.
It will take some time before I find out. My parents have always been technologically behind. I was the last of my peers to use AOL Instant Messenger in middle school because my mom was not convinced it was free. And the family computer had dial up until I was in high school. The dialing sound still gives me nightmares.
But just as dial up finally became ancient history in the Bryan household – and throughout most of modern society – so hopefully will a cell phone without Internet access.
Smartphones are phones with advanced software that allow the user to access the Internet, email, and other resources, such as GPS. According to Gartner’s market share figures released Feb. 23, Symbian and Research in Motion have the largest market shares for smartphones, but iPhone OS is increasing rapidly, nearly doubling from 2008 to 2009. With more than 91 million customers, Verizon Wireless, known for its slogan – “America’s most reliable wireless network”– offers several smartphone models.
Numerous smartphone applications have moved beyond Internet access and email. According to Time magazine, the iPhone’s most popular applications include Yelp, a GPS system that includes consumer reviews of popular restaurants, stores and more, and Midomi, which identifies songs on the radio as well as songs a person is humming or singing.
The applications on smartphones have allowed people to stay more technologically connected than ever. According to an article in The Washington Post, some people worry it may even become an obsession. But are people using their advanced phones to stay up-to-date on politics?
Time magazine also reported that the NYTimes is a popular news source for iPhone users. In addition, the NowLocal application allows users to access local news, and Instapaper lets users save articles they find so they can read them later.
News channels sometimes offer mobile news updates, such as Fox8 News Mobile in North Carolina’s Triad area. Updates include the top local stories, weather forecasts, sports news, movies, flights and gas prices in the region. While the weather forecast and traffic updates may be a person’s first priority, local news is also available at a person’s fingertips.
Politicians have noticed the advantages of using smartphones as well. In Canada, political candidates are looking into campaign-boosting applications that allow users to donate money and participate in political polls. Until a greater percentage of the population owns smartphones, the polls may have skewed results, but the application has the potential to increase the power of public opinion.
With more opportunities to access news, I would expect people with smartphones to be more informed than ever – and I think they are informed about the events and things that impact their lives most directly. However, political news does not seem to be the most popular function of smartphones. With the breadth of information users receive on their phones, many people may skip over news updates.
Still, the potential to access political news anytime, anywhere exists. For me, an update about the town council may never be as exciting as an invitation to a party, but, with the news adjacent to my friends’ texts, I would be more likely to at least glance over it. And the information gathered from a glance is better than no information at all.
The instant access smartphone users have to information is an advantage. It also requires little effort. The user must only take a small step to access news – from making a Twitter account, to uploading an application, to reading an update. The news comes to them.
So when wireless phone companies offer an indestructible smartphone with a low-cost monthly bill, I’ll be more up-to-date than ever on both my personal life and community news. I’m already counting down the days.
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