Thursday 1 December 2011

Smart Phones and Libraries

So the topic this time is Smart Phones and Libraries.

I find this very co-incidental as I was recently involved on a debate about this very idea; during which people accused me of being negative towards Smart Phone technology.

I'm not. But as someone who doesn't have a Smartphone, and someone who can't really use a Smartphone, the increasing assumption that people have access to Smartphones and Data Plans. . . honestly, really -really- frustrates me.  

The technology is good.  I actually like the idea of being able to scan a QR code and hop right to a site on your phone, or being able to search a library catalog quickly and easily using a smartphone.  But it seems that there is a growing assumption that everyone has access to a Smartphone and a Data Plan  (and data plans are hideously expensive in Canada, in comparison to other parts of the world), which is beginning to block access for those people who do not have or cannot have a Smartphone.

So while I think that there is a lot of integration that can be done, and applications for Libraries should be most definitely ported over to Smartphones, I have to stress that assumption.  Not everyone has a Smartphone.  Don't assume that your patrons do. 

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