Are Smartphones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History?

Today’s technology scene seems overheated to some. Apple is the most valuable company on earth. Software apps are reaching tens of millions of users within weeks. Major technology names like Research in Motion and Nokia are being undone by rapid changes to their markets. Underlying these developments: the unprecedented speed at which mobile computers are spreading. Presented below is the U.S. market penetration achieved by nine technologies since 1876, the year Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. Those technologies with “last mile” problems—bringing electricity cables or telephone wire to individual homes—appear to spread more slowly. It is difficult to conclude categorically from the available data that smart phones are spreading faster than any previous technology. The Sudden Rise of the Smart Phone That changed when Apple’s iPhone sold 1.12 million units in its first full quarter of availability, despite prices starting at $399.

This Is What Developing For Android Looks Like You know how many Android developers complain about fragmentation? Yeah, this is what fragmentation looks like. Animoca, a Hong Kong mobile app developer that has seen more than 70 million downloads, says it does quality assurance testing with about 400 Android devices. The photo above is just a sampling of Animoca’s fleet of Android test units. “We haven’t managed to track down all of those devices because, in large part, they are no longer available for sale,” he says. On top of that, Siu said that the number of handsets from the lower-end Asian manufacturers is also growing rapidly. But if you want to break into Asian markets, these phones matter and make it especially challenging for Android developers to ensure their apps work on every single Android device. But imagine the long-tail of developers! It puts a real dent in Eric Schmidt’s prediction from six months ago that developers might start going Android first within six months. Siu isn’t fazed though.

What it Means to Have a Designer as a Startup Founder A warm welcome to you dear reader! If you have not already, why not subscribe to The Design Sojourn Newsletter and get my latest thoughts on Strategies for Good Design conveniently delivered right to your inbox? It's free! You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook as well. Thanks for visiting and please keep in touch? So it looks like The Designer Fund, a VC fund that specifically invests in Startup companies that have designers as founders is starting to gain traction. Brace yourselves! But before we go on check out some of the current sentiments on this hot topic, researched and organized for you in chronological order: 1) The Designer Fund in all its glory! 2) Yongfook rants, (in respond to this brag list) in his post “Design is Horseshit! 3) Joshua Porter calls out YongFook in his post “Design is not Horsepoop“. 4) Finally, a bunch of us were having a conversation on Twitter today on the seemingly narrow view of design on this website: “Startups, This is how Design Works“.

Haig Armen