Cell Phones

When thinking of day-to-day activities and types of technology we use on a daily basis, we commonly overlook the cell phone. The cell phone however is a great example of how technology has changed many aspects of our daily lives. Cell phone usage in the United States alone has increased from 34 million to 204 million in the last ten years. Cell phones affect our day-to-day lives on many levels, increasing communication between friends and families, by providing entertainment to users, and by helping user’s complete tasks and errands.
Cell phones have affected our means of communication possibly more than any other aspect. Before cell phones people were forced to make calls on LAN lines or pay phones. Cell phones greatly increased the mobility and convenience of communication in this day and age. Cell phones are also made long distance and global calls possible and more affordable. This greatly increased communication, because distance is not longer a limiting factor. Cell phones not only increased communication through calls made and received, but also through text and media messages sent from user to user. This aspect of cell phone communication has greatly increased in the last five years.

Cell phones, originally seen more as a tool for business, have evolved into more personal and entertaining devices. Phones today allow users to do anything from play games online, to searching the web for the best prices plane tickets for your upcoming trip. Cell phones have greatly changed how people entertain themselves and get by on a daily basis. Today we take for granted how handy and convenient cell phones are. If we’re going to be late for dinner, or forgot the grocery list on the counter at home, we just make a simple call on our phones and the problem is solved. This was not the case 15 years ago. Cell phones are also becoming extremely advanced with regards to entertainment. Smart phones of this day and age are replacing the need for other objects that were once used for recreational enjoyment.
Cell phones are a great form of technology, that have effect our lives in more ways than we could ever know, but like all good things they also have brought some negative effects with them. A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, they found that 73% of people report using their phone while driving. They later on also concluded that people are four times more likely to get into an accident while on the phone. Another problem that has arose from the increased popularity of cell phones is the decrease in face-to-face contact. In past years people waiting in line at the grocery store, or for the bus would be less likely strike up a conversation with the people next to them. In this day in age however, people are more likely to pull out there cell phones and call or message someone instead. As a whole, our society is slowly losing this face-to-face contact that was once the only means of conversation.

Some interesting sites that I came across while researching cell phones:
http://www.accuconference.com/blog/CellPhoneStatistics.aspx

History of cell phones:
http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/History-of-Mobile-Phones--Cell-Phones-