Whats the big i - dea? It's definitely a big deal

Looking back to about 1998 when the world of mobile hit South Africa with a bang, it was incredible. We were so cool. Life changed just like that. Various models were introduced and let me tell you, ego took over and the wonderful world of mobile was the start of the BIG i - dea.

We referred to them as "bricks". Nokia, Alcatel, Motorola, Ericsson. Everyone is was in competition with each other and it was like "mine is bigger than yours". True story. Everywhere people started pretending to be on the cell phones just to be cool so they could get the attention they wanted. I was definitely one of those. As the years went by, phones really stated to take over the world. They got smaller, features got better and our egos got even bigger. We could not live without them. We certainly cant live without them today. But what is the big i - dea. Well its simple.

My career in IT took off in 2013 when i started selling software. All these IT acronyms of ACD, IVR, SDK's, API's, Hashes, Mega Hashes, Crypto Currencies, Block Chains, Algorithms and not to mention cloud, is when i realized that we are on a trend that will never slow down and that mobile and all these awesome technologies are going to take over the world and consume us into it that we will be prisoners of the digital world.

Bitcoin has been around for years and suddenly everyone wants a piece of this pie. Even me. I bought a mining rig recently to mine Ethereum and all other types of ALTcoins and its working. No one talks about this as part of the world of digital disruption but yet i can promise you that its the next disruption that will hit this world harder than any digital disruption known to man.

Prisoners indeed. Where are we now? Where are our kids now? Analysts spoke about big data, analytics, bots, virtual reality, IOT, artificial intelligence and many more and no one ever thought that this would be where we are today and where the world is going.

Just yesterday i was at a barbecue (braai) in South Africa where a complete stranger that i met was telling everyone how a 14 year old in the 8th grade developed an app that started taking over schools like a plague out of the early 1900's. Only this time it was a plaque in the digital world that will be spoken about forever.

Again, you ask yourself, what is the big i - dea. Well, this app allowed kids to remain anonymous by post sexual content about themselves, start sexual chats and blog about what they have been up to in a very disturbing way. This app was like a combination of the major social platforms of today and within 4 months, it was recorded that over 4000 kids were already spreading the "gospel" and making a noise in schools.

Now this is a big i - dea and i would definitely say a its a big deal. As we speak, people are trying to shut this app down but the owner is so clever that he is just one step ahead of everyone. Now this is a digital disruption of note.

Going back to my point above about kids, it is absolutely frightening to see how mobile and technology has taken over their lives. I see it in my 2 year and 4 year old. They blow my mind away by the stuff they can do on a phone and scares the shit out of me knowing that this is the future and there is no stopping now. Our future leaders are about to disrupt this crazy world we live in with technology that will outgrow the human race.

Digital transformation has become the new age of the customer. Everyone talks about it but what does it actually mean. When i present to CEO's, CIO's and COO's on a daily basis, this is my focus. I talk about Uber, Air bnb, Taxify, Zamoto, Fintechs and all these wonderful disruptions. I show them stats, pics of how the world of mobile has taken over the world and where its going and my audience LOVE it. You step outside after all this hype has concluded and what does everyone do? BOOM!!!! you see a room full of people on their phones, head down, catching up on mails, returning calls, checking the latest update on Facebook about someone who is pissed off at the world and is looking for attention.

People are tweeting about this amazing event they have just been to but the reality is, that they are totally oblivious about the fact that they are living in a world of "unsociable media" its sad but true. At a conference the other day, our marketing team asked us to put our phones in a box for the duration of the conference. I was mortified. How am i going to live. Losing connection to the outside world was the first thing that came to mind. I felt nauseous, upset that this is what it resorted to and as soon as we had a break, i did not bother eating or drinking anything, i grabbed my phone and got my fix. I have included some photos of this unsociable world.

I closing, i can honestly say that yes, we are in an age where technology is the big i - dea. It is something we should not take for granted and it is something that will be with us until the day we die, but the reality is that out future depends on it. Take advantage now. Use it to win, use it to live. You need to eat, sleep, and shit the world of mobile if you are going to make it in life one day.

That, ladies and gentleman, was my 2 cents worth of "Whats the big i - dea".

Pani Harito