More than Meets the Eye →

You've probably seen this photo circling the world wide web since the announcement of the new pope. It allegedly juxtaposes papal elections in 2005 and 2013. Turns out the 2005 photo was actually from an occasion of mourning (hence, the complete absence of devices held in the air).

A lot has changed in the last 8 years, in no small part due to the advent of the iPhone in 2007. That said, the contrast is not quite as stark as it was made to appear. The evolution of communication, especially as it pertains to personal electronics, is fascinating. Proper analysis of such evolution, however, requires a bit more data than just one photo.