New Film Explores the Cultural Effects of Mobile Technology

Mobile is entering adulthood. More than 60% of US adults own smartphones, and virtually everyone connects to the Internet daily. iPhone app developers launch around 1,000 apps every day. Everyone from grandmothers to children use smartphones to communicate and network.

So, it’s a fitting time for a film by renowned documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog to explore the effects this digital connectedness has had on our culture — the good, the bad, and the shades in between.

Robots and AI are key focusses of the new film, but it’s in mobile technology that Herzog’s dramatic predictions have flourished. We see the positive side, in interviews with startup founders and technologists who make the miracle of mobile tech possible. We also see the negative side, in interviews with those who have fallen victim to trolls, privacy breaches, and other difficult aspects of connectivity.

Most important, however, is the message that mobile tech is only growing — and that growth is a good thing. Advanced technologies like fiber-optics are making the world more interconnected than ever before. Herzog’s message is one of caution and curiosity rather than fear and rejection, as San Francisco iPhone app developers might expect from his often-dark predictions about mobile technologies in interviews and other films.

App developers can expect that the film will prompt audiences worldwide to consider their relationships with mobile tech, and the importance of app development to American life and the economy. An interview with Elon Musk even gives a glimpse of how mobile tech will enable his vision of life on Mars.

One thing’s for sure: mobile tech is changing the world, fast. It’s a great time to be a mobile app developer or startup founder, as the products of passionate developers are quite literally shaping our culture — and the world.