Via Slashdot: The world population is approximately 6.6 billion, the number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide are 3.3 billion. Not bad considering mobile phone technology is really only commercially thirty years old.

As the article notes, early adoption of a disruptive technology has long term ramifications. The Nordic adoption of mobile phones has meant Nokia and Ericsson are two of the leading telecommunications companies of the modern era.

The economic and cultural restrictions of some markets such as India have led to interesting innovations:

Since many people in India's countryside often need to share one phone, Nokia's new models include features enabling multiple users for each handset.

I think it was Negroponte who argued in the 90s that everything we put through the ground will go through the air and vice versa.
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.