Evolutionary patterns of an artifact: The mobile phone

We establish an algorithm that explains the evolutionary patterns of artifacts and construct a mobile phone phylomemetic tree using a very simple statistical method with the principles of biological evolution. Based on the results, we find that the change of an artifact and society´s relationship to that artifact follow a certain pattern. First, the evolution of an artifact´s characteristics takes a direction that differs depending upon the characteristics involved. In addition, the outcome of this evolution is connected to the general human perception of consumers. Second, each of an artifact´s characteristics evolves sequentially rather than simultaneously. Furthermore, characteristics of one artifact that are held in common with those of other artifacts, such as a digital camera and PDA, have an effect on the speed of that artifact´s evolution. Finally, producers that launch many evolved artifacts end up in a leading position in the marketplace.