Disenfranchised!

Mobile phones have done some amazing things since their creation.  The ability to speak to someone from almost anywhere.  The first internet access to rural areas in emerging nations.  African merchants making payments via SMS to avoid being robbed while carrying money in transit.  Taking HD-quality video and sharing it instantly with friends and family.

In hindsight, it's always easy to spot the disenfranchised: pay phones, the yellow pages, digital cameras, and portable DVD players.  When you look back at how you performed the same tasks previously, you wonder how you put up with it.  I'm still amazed every time the local phone company puts the yellow pages on my porch.  Straight to the recycling bin.

So, what will be disenfranchised in the coming years because of technology?  Will NFC kill credit cards?  Will tablets kill books or even PCs?  Heck, I think our kids will look at our PCs like my generation looks at minis or mainframes.  Don't get too comfortable, or it might be you that gets disenfranchised.