Dr. Ibrahim Alhariri

Over the past decade, smartphones have seen significant and genuine advancements. We have transitioned from white and black screens to high-definition ones, including HD, Full HD, and finally Quad HD. The smartphone era has surpassed the limitations of basic tasks, becoming a substitute for digital cameras, multimedia players, radios, and even serving as a replacement for desktop and laptop computers for some people!

Scientifically, it is difficult to completely eliminate or replace smartphones with other devices at present because all modern devices and accessories consider smartphones as their central servers providing services such as speakers, screens, glasses, and the Internet of Things. According to a study published by Time magazine, the average user checks their smartphone approximately 46 times a day. Additionally, the term “Nomophobia,” meaning the fear of losing one’s phone, has emerged to describe a psychological state that people in the current era can suffer from.

Practically, smartphones will eventually disappear just as fax machines, landline phones, pagers, and beepers did before them. But the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Who sets the foundations for these steps other than tech giants like Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and countless startups playing a role in this journey?

But how will our world look without smartphones? What will be the alternative to these technologies?

We will explore this future in terms of:

– **Hardware**

– **Software**

– **Humanware**

When Steve Jobs announced the launch of the iPhone, marking the beginning of a new era for smartphones with revolutionary features and specifications, it captivated the world and changed it dramatically. These devices were undoubtedly innovative with their compact size, portability, powerful processors, large storage capacities, high-quality cameras, clear sound, sensitive sensors, extensive applications, and ease of use, making them dominate the tech world and displace the era of laptops and traditional communication devices.

But what if we view smartphones from another perspective? Both desktop and laptop computers consist of a mouse, a keyboard, a screen, and other components. The smartphone adopted this model and miniaturized it, making the input process limited to touch.

**Regarding Hardware:**

– **New Forms:** The emergence of new forms like wrist-worn watches, bracelets, or implants under the skin that function as mobile phones.

– **Content Display:** Displaying screen content on glasses, walls, smooth surfaces, hand palms, and wrist areas.

– **Service Providers:** Phone service providers will lose their authority in favor of software developers and tech companies.

– **Connection:** Communication will be through global networks without SIM cards, relying instead on accounts with companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft.

– **Future Technologies:** Modern devices will rely on future technologies such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligence.

– **Customization:** Devices will be designed upon request due to the affordability and advancement of technology.

– **Internet of Things:** Increased use of the Internet of Things to connect mobile devices with various fields, from cars to airplanes.

– **New Giants:** New giant companies will emerge in this modern industry, achieving remarkable innovations.

– **Materials:** New devices will be made from stronger, lighter, and higher-quality materials.

– **3D Cameras:** New devices will feature 3D cameras with multiple lenses, high resolution, and high zoom capabilities.

– **Eye Scanning:** New devices will include eye-scanning technology.

– **Foldable Phones:** Phones will be foldable.

– **Unbreakable Devices:** Devices will be unbreakable.

– **No Internal/External Memory:** Phones will rely solely on cloud storage, with no internal or external memory.

– **New Storage Innovations:** The introduction of a 1-terabyte storage memory (1TB = 1000GB) by Rice University researchers, which is the size of a postage stamp and about 100 times faster than current SSDs.

– **Speed:** Devices will be approximately 10 times faster than they are now.

**Regarding Software:**

– **New Operating Systems:** The emergence of new operating systems to keep pace with modern developments, such as Google’s Fuchsia and updates to existing systems.

– **HTML5 Support:** Increased support for HTML5, allowing new development companies and compatibility with all operating systems, leading to lower costs.

– **Micro Apps:** Focus on micro apps or bots that work within other applications like Facebook Messenger, allowing users to handle needs without leaving the app.

– **Thought Communication:** The emergence of applications that communicate through thoughts and idea exchange.

– **Language Communication:** Users will be able to communicate in any language.

– **Advancements:** Significant advancements in writing, voice, and image applications.

– **Information Demand:** A growing demand for information.

– **Global ID:** Introduction of a global unified identifier similar to an email, becoming the standard for all tech and life transactions.

– **App Dependency:** Increased reliance on applications.

– **Medical Apps:** New medical applications to facilitate patient monitoring.

– **Sensory Apps:** Apps enabling sensory experiences such as smelling and possibly tasting.

– **Social Browsers:** Increased use of new browsers from platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which people are increasingly immersed in.

**Regarding Users:**

– **AI Integration:** Users will rely on artificial intelligence to interact with new devices.

– **Voice Usage:** Expanded uses of voice for authentication, input, and commands.

– **Social Platforms:** Increased use of phones as platforms for social media.

– **Video Applications:** Greater use of phones for video and its applications, especially 3D and up to 6D.

– **Medical Use:** Phones will be used as mini-clinics with all medical devices.

– **Educational Use:** Phones will become educational platforms for all levels of schooling, from kindergarten to postgraduate studies.

– **Gaming:** Phones will be platforms for 3D and virtual reality games.

– **Vehicle Control:** Phones will be used to unlock, drive, and request cars without drivers.

– **Payment:** Phones will become the primary payment method, replacing traditional cards and cash.

– **Battery Life:** Smart batteries will last for a week or more, with some even lasting up to a month.

The concept of merging humans with computers is itself a daunting idea, even without the need for science fiction books or technologists or philosophers questioning what makes us human. At the same time, it is a novel idea in reality (though it has been proposed in science fiction films) to the extent that no one knows what the world will look like with its application. Therefore, when smartphones die, it will mark the end of an era in more ways than one; it will be the end of devices that accompany us and the beginning of something that directly connects our bodies with the flow of digital data. No doubt, the situation will become extraordinarily strange.

Finally, we have discussed the future of smartphones and their potential without exaggeration or fiction, but based on scientific and practical perspectives and research centers of companies, in accordance with the laws of physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Now it’s up to you, dear reader, to predict how your smartphone might look in the future! So unleash your imagination and ponder how our phones and communications will evolve!