From the desk of Mr. Monk

Mobile Technology

I feel that I am in need of writing this entry, maybe as I am trying to avoid writing the very dissertation that fuelled these ideas, or perhaps as it is probably long overdue.

I am currently (attempting) writing my dissertation on ‘How effective is typography on mobile devices?’ As a result my brain is in mobile phone mode. I originally set out to write a paper on the current state of typography on the web. I was naive in thinking that mobile devices inevitably meant ‘boring’. I am now at the point where I am seriously excited about mobile devices and where we are headed.

Mobile devices offer such a wide variety of opportunities it appears endless! Access no matter where you are is incredibly desirable to any major corporation, but in the UK it never seems to have been capitalised upon. 

Chris Unitt recently gave me an invite to Spotify which is an incredible app. I’ve not had it long and yes, maybe my reaction is inspired by first impressions but my feelings are that as a long term concept, this has the forward-thinking that I believe will make it viable. 

Let me explain it to you; it’s kinda like iTunes. It’s less bloated and very nicely designed. There’s no downloading of songs, in fact no songs ever really reside on your computer. What it does do is stream the music to you. The catalogue is extensive and will continue to expand. So in theory, I have all the music which I can pick and choose from at will, on demand for no cost! The drawback is it requires an active internet connection. However, we are heading towards a permanently connected world. Whilst the ability to dowload has major advantages, I believe that at the very least, radio has its future laid out in this type of technology. I would not be surprised if Apple releases something like this within the next ten years.

How does it tie to mobile tech? Imagine if I could access my Spotify music on my phone. Portable streamed music on demand. 

I’m excited.