The popularity of the mobile phones is constantly on the rise like a
snow ball. There are numerous reasons for that and they are well beyond
mere communicating with each other.
The development of the cell phones and technology in the past decade
along with social and cultural processes as well as sharp decrease in
prices contributed to their phenomenon success.
Cell phones have long become a symbol of status as well as a fashion
statement. Some manufacturers have started to produce special designed
phones for women. Other models are designed with interchangeable
facades to cater for the youngsters. A lot of young people are
transferring their instant-messaging habits to their cell phones.
The integration of so many different functionalities and technologies
into the cell phones is more impressive and beneficial than the
all-in-one office devices that integrated a scanner, a copier, a fax
and a printer into a single compact space saving multifunctional
machine.
The current generation of G-2.5 technology as well as the very near
future G-3 units that are starting to emerge right now will carry in it
so many functions which are mind blowing. These new Cell phones are
going to be a multimedia center, a mobile office, a navigation device
GPS (Global Positioning system), a computer with fast Internet access,
a text messenger, a high resolution camera and video, a watch, a
calculator, a PDA, an MP3 music player, TV and a Wallet! Yes, we will
be able to pay with it for things we today pay with coins like vending
soda or coffee machines as well as for parking space, trains and buses
tickets etc’. It has become our “Swiss Army Knife”...
In Israel they used the cell phone to send SMS message and approval for
one dollar donation payment for needy children. I guess that in the
future it will be a legitimate tool for voting in contests and may be
even in Elections.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, an executive for a wireless company
noted that “in Slovakia, people are using mobile phones to remotely
switch on the heat before they return home,” and in Norway, “1.5
million people can confirm their tax returns” using cell phone short
text messaging services. Paramedics use camera phones to send ahead to
hospitals pictures of the incoming injuries; “in Britain, it is now
commonplace for wireless technology to allow companies to remotely
access meters or gather diagnostic information.” Construction workers
on-site can use cell phones to send pictures to contractors off-site.
Combined with the individual use of cell phones—to make appointments,
locate a friend, check voicemail messages, or simply to check in at
work—cell phones offer peoplean unknown level of convenience. (Source:
The New Atlantis – Article by Christine Rosen).
Other interesting applications are providing a locating service of your
friends, or in other words if one of your friends is very close to
where you are right now an SMS massage can alert you of this fact.
Cell phones and Dating Services
Several companies now offer a way to flirt and meet people anonymously.
These services offer cell-to-cell texting and PC-to-cell texting.
(Text-messaging phones also can receive messages sent over the Internet
from a PC.) Companies including UPOC (Universal Point of Contact) and
SMS.ac allow users to fill out a profile as they would at any dating
service (some dating sites are dabbling with texting) and then search
for an ideal match. Profiles can include photos and can be accessed
either with a picture-enabled cell phone or through a PC. Say you want
to meet a 20- to 30-year-old man in Kentucky who is interested in
hiking. Do a search and three names pop up. You can send one a text
message without ever exposing your phone number
Cell phones as safety device
One of the main reasons the cell phones have become so wide spread
nowadays is that besides convenience it is perceived as a security and
safety aid, Parents provide their children with mobile phones in order
to track their whereabouts, to make sure they arrived safely to their
destinations, to give them a mobile phone to report in real time when
in any sort of trouble. Many women feel much safer in the street
knowing they can call for help when in need.
