I’m standing on the Vomit Comet from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria. This train leaves at 2315 and is usually one of the first to attract the drunken dregs of Essex. And the odd sane and sober individual hiding from cold, hard reality with a pair of headphones and an ability to avoid projectile vomit with a skill honed over years of experience. I’m standing. Which means there is no sodding space to sit and that I have a birdseye view of proceedings. So whilst an arse in the middle of the carriage is relating a tale about a box of margarine and a recent sexual experience at 200% volume, my attention was drawn by a lady sat by the door. I was able to look over her shoulder and see Prison Break (latest series) playing away on her iPhone 3G in her lap. She’s overweight – “plump” – she is literally wearing a pink Anorak, she has bleached blonde long hair and she’s weathered to at least, by my reckoning, 45+ years. This, ladies and gentlemen, is your new power handset user. Think you’re all smart with your N95s and N78s? Think again. I’ve just seen her use a TV listing application, the web (Facebook and some Googling), some music and the Prison Break TV episode. Oh, and the text message function. Unbelievable. Fascinating. Truly fascinating. This isn’t a digital obsessed teenager. This is someone who went to school *without* computers in the classrooms. Not even a BBC Micro jobby. And here she is, consuming data and using her iPhone 3G to an extent that, truly, I didn’t expect to see. Her battery is, by the way, totally screwed. I can see the little icon nearing empty. Brilliant! More!
It’s great to see practical real life experiences of folk using mobile technology beyond calling and texting.