When cell phones first hit the scene over 25 years ago, they were used solely for the purpose of talking. Today, however, this is no longer the case.
As a result of technological advances over the course of the last couple of decades, cell phones have become much more than just phones.
With the stroke of a pinky – or thumb, whichever one prefers – people can now check their e-mail, make restaurant reservations, book a flight or call friends thousands of miles away while walking down the street.
For this reason and many others cell phones have had an increasingly large impact on daily life with their ever-increasing functionalities. As the different uses of mobile phones increase, the question of how has cell phone evolution impacted, both negatively and otherwise, our lives is often pondered. Extending from this very question is another question revolving around what exactly this increasing reliance on technology means?
However, to see how far cell phones have come, one must know where they started.
Motorola, the company attributed with creating the first commercial portable cellular phone, began their endeavors in communication by developing two-way radio communications equipment in the 1930’s.
By the 1960’s, their technology had progressed, and the company had become major suppliers of pre-cellular car telephones. Fast forward to 1973, and Motorola had succeeded in developing the first working DynaTAC portable phone prototype. Ten years later and after a more than $100 million worth of investments, their efforts were rewarded by the first successful phone call.
Vastly different from the bulky phones with large antennas that are the ancestors of modern day cell phones are the models now being produced, and the number of people who own them is much larger.
Facebook pages boasting thousands of fans illustrate how useful cell phones have become in sometimes bizarre ways. For example there’s “I Use My Cell Phone to See in the Dark” and, “I Hardly Ever Use My Cell Phone to Call, Yet I send 1000’s of Texts a Month.”
Jessica Clark, a sophomore in middle grades education, says she uses her cell phone all the time for texting, calls, e-mails and to check her Facebook account.
“I am on my phone more than I want to be, but with a boyfriend who lives far away it makes me be on the phone a lot more,” Clark said. “I probably talk at least an hour every day on my cell.”
Jane Dove Long, an event planner with the plant pathology department, said she sees her phone as of medium importance.
“I rely on it, but I’m not addicted to it; it’s not my sole source of communicating,” Long said. “What I like most about having a cell phone is the option of using it in an emergency. You can get to people quickly if you need to.”
On the flipside of increasing communication technology are things such as health and safety hazards, reduction in interpersonal skills and less face-to-face interaction. Clark said she agrees with this – especially the idea of cell phones affecting personal communication.
“It’s completely annoying when you’re with someone trying to hold a conversation and they’re texting,” Clark said. “You lose personal contact when all people are doing is texting or doing things on their phones.”
That’s not the only downfall. An article by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine on how usage of cell phones affects sleep patterns found that excessive use of cell phones causes teens and young adults to experience restlessness, difficulty falling and staying asleep and increased susceptibility to stress and fatigue.
Long also thinks the increase in accessibility to people has negative results on society, as she said people no longer seem to know how to communicate.
“People are now used to instant gratification, minute by minute. You don’t have to wait for anything anymore,” Long said. “Many people no longer know how to communicate other than through technology.”
One of the other dangers of cell phones comes when individuals make poor decisions about using their phones – like texting when they’re behind the wheel.
Nancy Boyce, a junior in environmental technology, said she thinks texting while driving is a bad idea to varying extents.
“Texting while driving is only ok if you’re at a stoplight, but if you’re driving all over the place it is definitely not permissible,” Boyce said.
Viriginia Jones, a junior in psychology, echoed that sentiment.
“It’s a no, never is it ok, you can hurt other people and yourself because it’s such a distraction from the road,” Jones said.
According to the Environmental Working Group, cell phones even have potential to cause serious harm down the road.
Using multiple studies on the levels of radiation emitted from cell phones, EWG concluded that cell phones, especially newer models, have the highest legal levels of cell phone radiation exposure.
Troubled by recent studies showing significantly higher risks for brain and salivary gland tumors and that more research on the topic is crucial, the organization created a cell phone radiation list and database, which features approximately 1,000 phones currently on the market.
For reasons like these, some might wonder whether cell phones are more beneficial than detrimental. Seeing the leaps that technology has made even in the past few years with phones such as the iPhone and Blackberry always coming out with newer models, the answer to this question will not get any easier.
