Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

A week ago today, Apple revealed its fifth generation iPod nano with a 2.2 inch display, FM radio, pedometer and, best of all, the ability to record video. Its low price point and convergence of functions bring to mind a few implications that will be visible on a much larger, but perhaps less obvious, scale.

Thanks to its omnipresence and ease of use, the iPhone became the most popular cameraphone according to Flickr data last December. Then after the 3GS launched in July, we reported that it even caught up to the Canon EOS Digital Rebel as the most used device for capturing images--period. Currently, Flickr shows a sharp dive in iPhone use, but it has been explained away as simply Apple changing a few things in their 3.1 OS update.

While the new 5G iPod Nano will not take pictures, it will have similar effects on sites with user submitted video like YouTube and Facebook. Right now, YouTube claims that every minute, ten hours of content is uploaded to the site. Many of these are scenes from everyday life that are caught on mobile and uploaded to the web for all to see. With Apple and its low-cost and convenient iPod Nano lowering the barrier to entry, we expect to see a rise in this "mobile lifestreaming" as more and more people get "recording eyes." What we see developing is, in a sense, society's all-seeing eye.