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.