The answer to economic stagnation may be closer than you think.
Look at the phone pictured above. You already know what it can do. It's changed the way we communicate, get information, get where we're going, and beyond. So we know the "great" which smartphones are creating, let's take a minute and talk about where the damage could be occurring.
We know that the world economy has foundered in the past five years. Is it possible that smartphones are contributing? Give me a minute before you call me crazy.
Let's start by looking at the clock app on the face of the phone. We now carry a phone everywhere we go, as a result we no longer have to carry a watch. The key thought being of course "have to." You can still choose to wear a watch, but many people do not. Why? Because it's redundant. Their phone tells them the time. So what does this mean? Here's what it means. There are these things called jewelry stores which don't just have their business hinge on big-ticket items like diamond rings. The small business relies on smaller, more-often needed items like watches. And when the more reliable traffic doesn't show up at the doorstep, the business begins to struggle. And when a merchant has less business, he/she has less disposable income either for the business or for his or herself.
So big deal right? Who cares if a few small jewelers go out of business? Here's the thing — the loss of the business does not only affect the jeweler.
Somewhere there is a cash register company who has one less customer. The building no longer needs to be heated by an oil or gas company. The building requires no electrician, plumber, roofer, delivery truck, light bulbs, glass cases, carpeting... etc. My point is brick and mortar businesses are part of the brick and mortar of the economy. And when everything changes at once, there is an upheaval in the economics of the country. Why? Because your clock is now delivered through air. Wirelessly. Amazingly. Without — people.
"Okay," you say. "So there are less watches."
Do me a favor, scroll back up and look at the face of the phone again. What do you see? You see music right? Digital music that no longer requires stores. Remember record stores? Gone. And with them all of the businesses and trades required to maintain them.
Look again. Books, right? Bookstores are next. They're already disappearing or evolving to try and compete in other areas of business. You don't need a bookstore, you don't need a parking lot for a bookstore, which has to be painted and tarred, and steamrolled — by people.
Look again. See the camera? When was the last time you thought about buying a pocket camera for yourself, or a friend? You don't. The camera industry is next to go. And with the camera industry will go the camera stores and the people who make the parts and sell the cameras.
When was the last time you picked up a map? A map which had to be printed by people, and shipped to a shelf which had to be stocked by people. People.
Keep looking at every app and you can connect significant industry and economic upheaval in every sector. All at the same point in time.
Before you hurl epithets in my general direction, and call me an idiot, I realize that the smartphone industry has created jobs. Hundreds of thousands probably. I realize we once used oil in lamps and we now use electricity and that progress must happen. We must evolve. But the bulk of jobs being created by smartphones are not down the street from you. How many people do you know who are manufacturing pieces of cell phones?
I am not an economist. And I am not suggesting we throw our smartphones into the drink and go back to 1980. But I am suggesting that when we complain about a stagnating economy, we may find that one of the reasons for the stagnation may very well be right in our pockets.
