Making predictions about what technology will do in the future is always challenging. There are many reasons for this. The pace of change is hard to predict. And it is not just the speed of new technology developments, but also the social and economic impacts enabled by new technologies.

“Mobile” is a perfect example. Twenty years ago, mobile (or “cellular” as it was called then) was a very expensive technology limited to senior managers and some members of the sales team. The customer training team worked in the office on desktops, and had a single laptop they might use for on-site training. That’s when they weren’t using printed acetates of slides projected on overhead projectors! This was a “mobile-last” workforce.

Today, we are on the cusp of mobile-first: Where mobile devices (phones, tablets, laptops and wearables) are being used throughout the workforce.

This full article originally appeared on Samsung Insights and is authored by Kevin Gilroy.

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