It’s Olympics time again! I’m not typically an avid viewer
of televised sporting events, but for some reason, I always get really excited
for the Olympics and find the time to watch as much as I can. Well this year, I’ll
have many more ways to get my Olympics fix as the world of technology has
changed drastically in the last four years.
The idea that mobile technology has been growing explosively
in recent years is something I’ve been aware of, but it never really hit me
just how much it has exploded until I saw the great infographic from iProspect
below. Click on the image to expand it, or download the full PDF here.
Those are some pretty astonishing stats for smartphones and
tablets. Also, the growth of Twitter and Facebook is simply mind-boggling. Like I
said, I knew it was happening, I just hadn’t realized that it has all happened
so fast. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised then this is the first Olympics where
athletes will have to juggle the opposing obligations of updating their fans through
social media, while also trying to keep their mind focused and in the game. Take a
look at this amusing (and a bit scary) article about how much of a distraction this new
social media craze has become for the athletes.
Given the growth in mobile, it’s also not surprising that
someone finally decided to target those devices for disseminating Olympic
coverage. As a mobile technology fan, and an Olympics fan, I’m very excited to
see a variety of apps available on iOS for coverage of Olympic news, photos,
and video. A big departure from years past is also the availability of live video
coverage from web and mobile apps (albeit in a handicapped way, see below).
