Smartphones have evolved beyond simple communication devices to become essential tools reshaping modern life. Let’s examine their development and impact.
If asked to name one defining element of modern life in the 21st century, most would undoubtedly cite the smartphone. Finding someone who doesn’t use a smartphone these days is rare. For instance, on subways or buses, and even while walking down the street, most people hold their smartphones. This demonstrates how firmly smartphones have established themselves as essential items for modern people. The reason smartphones have captured the modern world’s attention so completely is likely due to the diverse services they provide. Beyond simple phone functions like messaging, calling, and alarms, smartphones offer extensive internet browsing, email, diverse app installations, and even the ability for users to create and share their own apps. These varied capabilities are what make smartphones so appealing. Thus, the key characteristic of a smartphone is its small, easily portable form factor combined with the ability to perform not only phone functions but also tasks similar to a PC.
To summarize a smartphone in one phrase, it is a phone that can function as a PC, or a PC that can function as a phone. So, how does a smartphone differ from a regular phone (feature phone) and a PC?
First, the difference between a smartphone and a regular phone lies in the user’s ‘freedom’. Smartphone users can customize their phone to better suit their preferences compared to feature phone users. Traditional feature phone users were limited to using their phones according to the menus set by their mobile carriers, and app sales channels were also dependent on the carriers. While users could download or use apps, using data incurred significant costs, and the inability to freely create or share apps restricted users’ service usage. In contrast, smartphone users can access data at very fast speeds and relatively low cost, and they can freely create, share, and install apps. Moreover, thanks to these advantages, smartphone apps are vastly more diverse than feature phone apps. If the previous feature phone was like a typical fast-food restaurant, the smartphone is like a fast-food restaurant where consumers can choose and buy all the ingredients—bread, vegetables, patties, sauces—and even create their own burgers to sell back to others.
This freedom of the smartphone enables personalized experiences. Users can customize their own home screens and build their own lifestyles through various apps. For example, someone who enjoys exercise can install fitness apps to manage their workout records, while a music lover can build their own music library using various streaming apps. In this way, smartphones have evolved beyond mere communication tools to become instruments that enrich and diversify individuals’ lives.
However, the difference between smartphones and PCs is not as significant as the difference between smartphones and regular phones. Fundamentally, this is because the structure of a smartphone is the same as that of a PC. However, smartphones are designed for low-power, high-performance use while on the move, and accordingly, the following differences exist. The core elements of a computer are broadly three: the central processing unit (CPU), the main memory (DRAM), and the secondary storage (HDD, SSD). In smartphones, the central processing unit (CPU) is integrated onto a single chip called a ‘mobile application processor’ alongside components like the GPU for graphics processing and the DSP for audio signal processing. They also utilize mobile DRAM, specifically optimized for mobile devices, as their main memory. For secondary storage, they employ eMMC, which combines NAND flash memory with a controller. In essence, smartphones are identical to PCs, but they differ in that they incorporate specialized components tailored to their function as mobile communication devices.
The development of smartphones extends beyond mere technological advancement; it is deeply intertwined with societal change. Smartphones are intimately connected to modern daily life, giving rise to various social phenomena. For example, the proliferation of smartphones fueled the explosive growth of social media, revolutionizing how people communicate. People now go beyond text messages and phone calls, communicating in real-time through photos and videos, and sharing their daily lives with others anywhere in the world. This change has reduced physical distance between people and contributed to forming closer human relationships.
So how did smartphones, which combine the characteristics of PCs and traditional feature phones, reach their current level? Let’s examine the history of many companies participating in smartphone production.
The first smartphone is considered to be IBM’s Simon from the early 1990s. While it was a very low-performance phone by today’s standards, it was highly regarded at the time for supporting various functions like sending and receiving emails. Nokia also produced smartphones later. Through the Nokia 9210, which featured an open operating system, Nokia mass-produced smartphones that were expensive compared to regular phones but failed to gain widespread public popularity. Smartphones equipped with Microsoft’s Pocket PC OS, created in the early 2000s, were also highly innovative. This was because the OS, similar to Windows, was familiar to consumers. However, like Nokia’s precedent, they did not achieve widespread public adoption.
Then, in 2007, Apple launched the iPhone, combining an iPod, a mobile phone, and mobile internet capabilities. Its use of capacitive touch technology, coupled with the creation of the ‘App Store’ where users could freely download apps under the iOS system, sparked an explosive response from the public. Riding this wave, companies like Samsung Electronics, HTC, LG, and Nokia (acquired by Microsoft) began producing new smartphones under Google’s Android OS, continuously releasing new smartphone models. Apple also steadily developed and released new models in response. Currently, Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Meizu are also releasing high-performance products at low prices using their own developed OS, such as MiUI. Thus, the smartphone market today is at its peak of competition, with various companies like Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, Microsoft, and Xiaomi continuously releasing smartphone models equipped with new features, characteristics, and operating systems.
Smartphones have gained widespread adoption and captured consumer attention by offering greater ‘freedom’ compared to regular phones and being smaller and more portable than PCs. Although their history is relatively short, companies like IBM, Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, and Xiaomi have continuously released more convenient and superior products, competing fiercely to reach the current level of sophistication. As a result, smartphones have become the indispensable primary necessity for modern people in the 21st century.
The evolution of smartphones won’t stop here. As technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are integrated into smartphones, they will revolutionize our lives even further. For instance, AI technology will enable smartphones to learn user habits and provide personalized services. Augmented reality technology will allow smartphones to create new experiences where the real world and the virtual world merge. Through IoT technology, smartphones will connect to various devices, making our daily lives more convenient. In this way, smartphones will continue to evolve and become deeply rooted in our lives.
In conclusion, smartphones have transcended being mere communication tools; they have established themselves as crucial instruments that transform our lives and open new possibilities. This is precisely why the future development of smartphones is so highly anticipated.
