So, I’ve been spending a little time thinking about mobile lately for a client, and I keep coming back to a bias I have, one that someone refuted for me, but I’d like to put out there and maybe get some conversation on.

In my world, mobile is personal. You don’t touch my phone unless you’re handing it to me when something is going on (though really, why did I leave it over by you?). I will be a little miffed if I find you looking around on my phone without my permission. If I show you a photo from it, I’ll probably hold the phone for you. My phone (iPhone 4, fyi) is mine. More so than my computer, it is an extension of my “self.” When I connect it to my computer, it is listed as my “back-up brain” and rightly so.

I assumed everyone felt somewhat similar. Here’s a quiz. You’re on the train and reading a book and you catch someone looking over your shoulder to see what your reading. On a level from one to ten, how irked are you? Now play the same scenario out while you’re using your phone (it doesn’t even have do be something as personal as Mint or your email. maybe you’re just cruising your Twitter feed). How irked are you then? Aren’t you more irked when its your phone than when it’s a book?

Then, the director of technology (@michael_tapson) says that at SXSW, he heard about research that showed the younger the user, the less likely they were to consider the phone personal. They swap phones to look at pics, to read stuff, to see texts. I have occasionally gotten texts from my little sister’s friends through my little sister’s phone (19yo).

But I’m not convinced. Won’t they get older and see the phone/device as an extension of themselves as they get older? Won’t they become like me, or am I a dinosaur?

Thoughts? Comments are turned on and you can always holler at me via @digital_pharma.