6. Social networking/media
One of the main uses you see smartphone makers aiming their devices at is social networking. Pretty much everyone has started a Twitter account by now, with most of them probably not knowing why and just following the herd.
You see, it turns out that we never grow out of the needy exhibitionism of our youth and the ubiquity of the Internet has enabled us to seek attention more efficiently than ever. Through services like Twitter and Facebook we can now notify our ‘network' of our every waking thought and action - and soon where we did them.
Additionally, there's a school of thought that we no longer need to hear about the outside world from professionals. Social networks shall provide, apparently, and a massive global game of Chinese whispers is all we need to stay up to date.
While the novelty will surely wear off for many, news organizations and publishers of all varieties will have to adapt their business models to keep the public's attention and persuade them to pay for information they're increasingly convinced they can get for free.
