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chapter
two: lifestyles.digital
Digital technologies are fast becoming
indispensable. A growing array of devices and
technologies are on offer today, making users much
more mobile. These range from slimmer and faster
laptops, to MP3 players with video capabilities and
mobile phones with high-speed internet access. While
it took around 21 years to reach the first billion
mobile users, the second billion signed up in just
the three years. By contrast, it took some 125 years
to reach the first billion fixed-line users.
 
The evolution from second to third generation mobile
networks is arguably just as important as the jump
from analogue to digital, which began more than a
decade ago and is proceeding much more rapidly.
Broadband networks and media convergence are
generating new avenues for distributing digital
entertainment. User devices are now multi-functional
and increasingly personalized. In the future,
advances in connected computing will make it
possible for millions of things to have the ability
to compute and communicate. The process of digital
transformation, driven by technological innovation,
is only just beginning.
In both fixed line and cellular markets, the
transition to higher capacity networks is
accompanied by a shift to IP-based networks. As a
consequence, voice over IP (VoIP) usage is on the
rise (e.g. through services like Skype or Vonage)
but so too is the possibility of watc hing
moving images over IP networks: IPTV technologies
introduce an interactive dimension to television,
giving viewers more control over what they watch,
and when. New technologies such as digital video
broadcasting and digital multimedia broadcasting let
viewers watch streamed content on mobile devices
anytime, anywhere. Entertainment appears to be
entering a whole new era.
At the same time, digital technology is having a
significant impact on the nature of social
interaction. Mobile phones have already changed the
way people communicate, arrange meetings and
multitask. The internet stimulates new kinds of
networking for both real and virtual identities.
Online, users are encouraged to seek out strangers
with similar interests and this form of networking
has given rise to some of the internet’s most active
networking websites, such as MySpace and FaceBook.
Add to this the possibility of videosharing and you
have the overnight success of YouTube which provides
100 million video downloads each day and has
attracted the attention of one of the internet’s
largest players—Google. Multiplayer online gaming is
also on the rise, creating yet another venue for
digital interaction. Many users regularly engage in
role-playing games, leading alternative “second
lives” in cyberspace.
Innovation in digital content is rapidly expanding
to other aspects of daily living. Digital homes,
with sensor-enabled blinds, online security systems,
customized entertainment systems, and intelligent
appliances are being developed. With contactless
payment systems (e.g. through technologies like RFID),
seamless digital transactions are possible online
and via mobile devices. Moreover, content can be
delivered depending on the preferences and/ or
location of a user. Such context-aware services are
becoming a priority for service providers in a world
in which keeping abreast of constantly mutating user
lifestyles has become indispensable.
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