The Fourth Screen

This 2-minute Nokia ad envisioned a compelling future created by mobile devices. But not everything has changed. I still prefer to read online and browse the web on a computer screen. Maybe the next generation of smartphones running on Android OS may deliver the promise of ubiquitous internet.

Anyway, I was sufficiently inspired to type out the ad transcript:

In the beginning, was a screen. Millions of us came together in a public place to understand the present, to see visions of the future, sharing emotions, sharing experiences that shaped our lives.

Then there was a second screen. It connected us to our world, and even to other worlds. It gave us amazing new games to play, it made us think, and got us talking. But although this is a world we could all share, the experience itself was becoming private.

Then came a third screen. It changed the way we work and play. It became part of something much bigger, the internet, and a revolution happened. We could play new games in new ways, find new music in new places. New communities, new kinds of communities emerged but the experience had become individual, even solitary. The sense of community felt real but it was virtual.

And then, everything changed. And it changed forever. Everything came into this device that fit into our pocket. We went back out into the world. We listened to what we loved when we liked; we played when we wanted where we chose; we shared what inspired us with everyone we cared about; we carried our sense of purpose with us; we discovered new people, places and experiences. And our sense of purpose kept growing. It was the end of something, it was the beginning of everything.

Welcome to The Fourth Screen.