Smartphone use on the rise…just ask this Japanese snow monkey!

Almost two-thirds (63%) of cell phone owners use their phone to go online, according to a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.   This has doubled since 2009.   You can guess it is more now.  A picture says a thousand words.  This serendipitous photo by Marsel van Oosten in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, “People’s Choice” collection, shouts increase in tech use – serendipitous as in the iPhone was not planted there for the photo!

Facebook update, Marsel van Oosten (Netherlands)

If you’re wondering how a snow monkey came to have an iPhone in the middle of the natural hot springs at Jigokudani, Japan, short story: when taking selfies, don’t get too close!  Very intriguing story, as the photographer describes it:

We were standing close to the edge of the hot spring, when one of the tourists started taking shots with her iPhone, moving the phone closer to the macaque after each shot.  Suddenly, the macaque grabbed the iPhone from her hands—and quickly moved away towards the middle of the hot spring!  The owner screamed in agony, but the macaque was too fascinated by its new toy to notice.  The minutes that followed were downright hilarious.  Monkeys already resemble humans in so many ways, but when they’re holding an iPhone, the similarities are almost scary. At some point, it even managed to let the built-in flash of the iPhone go off.  When the macaque decided to do some serious underwater testing, the owner of the phone almost fainted.
(via “The Story Behind This Incredible Photo Of A Monkey Using An iPhone“)

You can help Marsel by voting for his image here.  Voting closes September 5th.

Now for what this means for your website: with the increase of people using their smartphone to surf the internet, you want to make sure you website works on smartphones too.  Solution, use UltimateWB software.  Read more about this here: What cross-browser/cross-platform compatibility means, and why it is important for your website!

Related:
Why you don’t want your website to be in Flash!
Flashy photo galleries and slideshows that work on ipad & smart phones too!