Abstract:
There will be over 7.3 billion cell phones on Earth by the end of 2014. That is a number that is higher than our global population, and it doesn’t account for tablets or Google glasses or smart watches. What many of us still do not realize is that these devices contain a multitude of toxic materials which, combined with a short lifecycle, pose a very significant threat to our environment. While these devices have evolved in many ways through creative thinking and business skill, their toxicity has not received equal attention. A short-term solution is to extend the functional life of every cell phone to reduce the actual toxic impact of each. What can be done to double the functional lifespan given our current technological conditions? Through various technological advances in recent human history we have gone from wired to wireless with elements such as radio, broadcast TV, cell phones, chargers, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Each of these devices has adjusted our lifestyles one value at a time. However, in hindsight, we have realized that while even the Swiss Army Knife has the capacity to cut bread and drive screws, we typically find it more rational to separate the two for common use. If we could bring that same logic to mobile device operation, we could imagine entirely new possibilities. Mobile cloud computing is among the best solutions to the problem.
