Foreword
As I watch my children use the latest in video conferencing technology over a mobile handset, I can't help but think of how far we've come. One might recall what the mobile communications industry was like only two decades ago, in the early 1990s. At the time, a considerable portion of the mobile addressable population simply could not comprehend why they would ever need a portable device to originate and receive phone calls. Even more difficult to believe was how this technology would spread through the business world and into the consumer population. After all, the price of a mobile minute was formidable, especially with the general lack of quality of experience and the not-to-be-forgotten 2 kg battery bag we were forced to carry.
In the mid 1990s, 2nd Generation technology was well into its general deployment. As business professionals, we gained acceptance and expectations of a world in which all of our colleagues, customers and suppliers could be reached through ever shrinking mobile devices. The service provider competitive landscape began introducing concepts such as “monthly minutes” while handset subsidization drove mobile communications into the hands of the everyday consumer. Even stranger was seeing the younger population use their thumbs (and not their mouths) to communicate with their friends. Yes, the world of the Short Message Service was taking European and Asian youth by storm.
As we headed towards the end of the century, we began to speak of the concept ...
