Smartphones have become central to the lifestyles of the majority of the population of the industrialised world – and in such a short time.

It is only 10 years since Apple sold the first iPhone.

This product ignited demand for a device that has since become ubiquitous and has changed the way people communicate, create, access information, record and share data, make photography and video, consume news and entertainment and much, much more.

The smartphone is undoubtedly the most important mainstream product in recent history. 

A powerful handheld computer, it has given us instant access to the internet's gigantic cache of knowledge and data.

It has enhanced, expanded and facilitated democratic participation – from constructive and innovative to vile.

What appears probable is handheld computers' role in our lives is crossing a frontier; we will interact with them in evermore personal ways, as their ability to simulate consciousness accelerates amid an expanding universe of data.

There is little point in arguing whether such widespread use of mobile computing and communications technology is good or bad.

Like it or loathe it, in the years ahead smartphones – and the technology they allow us to so conveniently access – are only going to become a bigger part of more people’s lives, not the opposite.

However, amid all the mind-numbing triviality and narcissism that swirls around the internet, if harnessed properly, the benefits of this unprecedented era of connectivity can be enormous.

Regional areas, such as central Victoria, have a lot to gain from the inexorable march of this technology.

It represents the best chance we have to narrow the gap between the city and the country in key areas such as education and healthcare.

Likewise, people in the business and commerce sectors based in Bendigo need not be disadvantaged compared to the capital city counterparts.

In the coming decade, smartphones will be at the forefront of humanity's efforts to achieve a balance between the benefits of this technology and the ethical challenges it presents.