Transforming Business: Big Data, Mobility, and Globalization

The Mobile Movement

According to iPass, 92 percent of today's mobile workers believe their smartphones should be enabled for both work and personal use.¹

Merriam-Webster defines phobia as “an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation.”² Some phobias are fairly well known by name, if not association. There's arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, tormenting 55 percent of females and 18 percent of males.³ Glossophobia may not be in one's common vernacular, yet with approximately 75 percent of the population afflicted by a fear of public speaking, it is certainly well-known, nonetheless.⁴ And, in 2008, a new phobia entered the scene, one that has yet to be officially recognized as a disorder but plagues two-thirds of people regardless.⁵ These nomophobes are terrified of being without their cell phones. Although critics may be quick to dismiss this latest phobia as silly, the case for mobility's indispensability is compelling. There is no device more personal than the mobile phone. It knows your location and preferences. It holds your pictures, e-mail, text messages, calendars, and contacts. It's no surprise, therefore, that such a large percentage of the population report that they can't live without their phones. However, ...