What they were doing in part was extending their space. I'm told now that loud boom boxes are out and cell phones are in and it's almost entirely young males, speaking loudly. Not that muscle-flexing is limited to disenfranchised urban youth. Already popular in Europe, earpieces with speakers imbedded in the wire have begun to replace handheld phones, promising a new, better-dressed generation roaming the streets talking to no one in particular. Not because we will be learning proper etiquette anytime soon, but because we are moving out of the wireless's equivalent of the primordial ooze, where our Nokias and Star TACS are used primarily for phone calls.
Most market analysts see desk-bound computers already heading for the dustbin.
In less than five years, more people will be hooking up to the Internet through mobile communications than through personal computers. Once again, Europe and Japan have left us in the dust when it comes to information innovation. Overseas, the cell phone is being transformed into a combination wallet, navigational guide, Grandma's photo album, and dating service, to name but a few options. The Finns are using their phones to pay for everything from vending machine snacks to car washes. The Swedes are experimenting with a way to pay for train tickets by phone.