What would you do if you knew you were exposing yourself to a know carcinogen every day? Would you modify your behavior to avoid contracting a disease? I assume most people would answer that question with a yes. For example, as soon as my wife found out that a good portion of the poultry she bought at our neighborhood grocery store was suspected of having traces of arsenic, a know carcinogen, she immediately stopped buying poultry. Seems like a common sense move. That was about three months ago,and she is just now regaining the confidence to buy meat again (although now it only comes from organic, grain fed animals).
Before we go any further let me say that this post is not about poultry, so let me rephrase the questions from above a different way.
If you knew your most prized personal device was a known carcinogen would you give it up? All of the sudden I’m not so sure everyone would say yes. Of course I’m talking about your mobile device, yeah, the one you use to send email and text messages, receive deal alerts from enterprise ecommerce sites, update your Facebook status, schedule meetings, oh, and make phone calls.
The latest news from the WHO has once again stirred the pot of this long lasting debate over whether or not having a cell phone glued to your ear all day can actually increase a person’s risk of developing a type of brain cancer called glioma. The announcement changed the previous position of the WHO from not supporting the theory that cell phones were dangerous to use, to classifying their use as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” It’s the word ‘possibly’ that has mobile phone companies and industry groups vehemently defending their products by noting that this classifies mobile phones in the same category as coffee and engine exhaust.
Despite the renewed debate over the subject it’s really not likely at all that the result of this announcement will have any adverse effect on the expanding popularity of the smart phone and the near future prospects for ecommerce growth through a mobile platform.In fact, it’s going to be hard to slow down the enormous opportunity for growth potential in the mobile market right now. Until there is an undeniable correlation between device and disease I wouldn’t expect the number of mobile phone users to fall off any time soon.
In the meantime, don’t expect your next smartphone purchase to have a Surgeon General’s Warning in the side of the box. In fact, all signs still indicate that implementing your mobile ecommerce strategy is actually good for your [business] health.
—Jared—
Jared Matkin is a staff writer for HotWax Media with a background in PR, Branding and Marketing. He’s also a light-hearted and an opinionated character who will join other HotWax Media employees and advisers in periodically posting his thoughts on topics ranging from enterprise eCommerce to business and technology.
