Cell phones are an ever-expanding form of technology, in which their potential is seemingly endless. Cell phones used to be seen as emergency devices that would only be used in case of your car breaking down, or you needing police or fire help while not at home. They have evolved from being the size and weight of a brick to today where there are some not even an inch thick. There are also Bluetooth devices that enable you to talk “hands-free”, and which also claim to reduce the effects of distracted driving.
In this day and age, technology rules our world. There are so many things that we can do now that we couldn’t even do 15 years ago. Back then, having a pager was the “cool” thing to have, and cell phones weren’t even heard of. Today, we see kids in 5th grade texting in class and almost everybody has one. Cell phones aren’t seen as being a privilege anymore as much as they are a necessity. “The contemporary cell phone no longer qualifies as simply a voice medium, as providers offer entertainment, messaging, Internet access, and information as well as ‘plain old telephone service’” (Ramirez et al., 2008). We are now on the third generation cell phones on which people can communicate with friends on social websites such as Facebook, and Twitter, all while pretending to pay attention in class. This would have been seen as crazy to even think about when the Internet was first introduced into society. Cell phones now have cameras, games, and videos, all of which used to be on three different platforms (Lecture, 11/3). The Internet on cell phones is now just as fast, if not faster, as dial-up used to be.
The future of cell phones is raw and untapped. In this day and age, there will be many improvements not even thought of yet. There are also companies that are experimenting with 4G cell phones, which may allow for numerous features including high definition video (Lecture 11/3). 4G Cell phones may end up rendering video cameras, regular digital cameras, and even radios irrelevant. Some see future cell phones as, “ the ultimate convergence device” (Lecture 11/3), and they are the future of technology. There are even applications that can be run on Blackberries and Apple’s iPhone, which allow you to place a bid on items you want on Ebay, track your stock portfolio, pay your bills, and even order a pizza.
Ramirez, A., Dimmick, J., Feaster, J., & Lin, S. (2008). Revisiting interpersonal media competition: The gratification niches of instant messaging, e-mail, and the telephone. Communication Research, 35(4), 529-547.
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As a person who has had the same cell phone for three years now I get laughed at all the time for my phone it is considered ancient at only three years old. When I first got my phone from cingular which is no longer around it was the most impressive model available. It can both text and has a camera on it all while still remaining extremely small. However it is a flip phone and has a small antenna sticking out. I find it interesting that smaller isn’t better anymore when it comes to cell phones they have found the common size at a little bigger than a credit card but not as thin yet…
ReplyDeleteIt is unfathomable to me the lengths cell phone technology has reached and what the future could hold. It seems like today's Blackberry's and iPhones have everything, yet there's something better in the future that does more than your bills and ordering your pizza. My friends and I were tlaki paying ng today, wondering what the cell phone will be like in ten years. It crazy to picture the first cell phones and how quickly they went from bricks to the thickness of three credit cards. At the rate we are going with our modern technology, it will continue to take advantage of our lives with things that are even bigger and better..hard to believe.
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