Business Communication
21st Century Dilemma: Is Simpler Better?
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius- and a lot courage - to move in the opposite direction”
Ernst Friedrich Schumaker
Are you one of those people who are tired of gadget after gadget showing up on the market promising mind boggling features when you just want to communicate messages? Do you really think the newest cell phone on the market sends messages more reliably, has better reception or a much battery life? A cell phone or a “smart phone”, as it is now known as, is of little use if it does not work during rush hours or does not get signal coverage in remote areas. Don 't you want something which is simple, compact, battery efficient and can send and receive messages reliably above all? If your answer to the above questions is a yes, you are in the market for a pager.
“Paging systems began to develop in the early 1930s” (Gibson, 1997, p.34). Looking at the history of pagers, this term was first used in 1959 for a radio communications product, a slightly different technology than that we know of today. But by 1974, Motorola Company launched the first successful consumer pager, Pageboy. Even though it had no storage ability, had limited range, it gained popularity due to its portability and ability to transmit instant messages, albeit one way. As statistics show “By 1980 there were 3.2 million pager users worldwide” (Bellis, n.d.).With the passage of time this technology modified into being capable of usage within wide range areas and therefore, the number of pager users climbed up; “By 1994, there were over 61 million pagers in use and pagers became very popular for personal use” (Bellis, n.d.).
Consequently, the rapidly increasing popularity of pagers for casual communication persuaded companies to develop innovative products. Motorola invented the “world’s first two-way pager in 1995” (“Motorola History”, 2008). This device allowed
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius- and a lot courage - to move in the opposite direction”
Ernst Friedrich Schumaker
Are you one of those people who are tired of gadget after gadget showing up on the market promising mind boggling features when you just want to communicate messages? Do you really think the newest cell phone on the market sends messages more reliably, has better reception or a much battery life? A cell phone or a “smart phone”, as it is now known as, is of little use if it does not work during rush hours or does not get signal coverage in remote areas. Don 't you want something which is simple, compact, battery efficient and can send and receive messages reliably above all? If your answer to the above questions is a yes, you are in the market for a pager.
“Paging systems began to develop in the early 1930s” (Gibson, 1997, p.34). Looking at the history of pagers, this term was first used in 1959 for a radio communications product, a slightly different technology than that we know of today. But by 1974, Motorola Company launched the first successful consumer pager, Pageboy. Even though it had no storage ability, had limited range, it gained popularity due to its portability and ability to transmit instant messages, albeit one way. As statistics show “By 1980 there were 3.2 million pager users worldwide” (Bellis, n.d.).With the passage of time this technology modified into being capable of usage within wide range areas and therefore, the number of pager users climbed up; “By 1994, there were over 61 million pagers in use and pagers became very popular for personal use” (Bellis, n.d.).
Consequently, the rapidly increasing popularity of pagers for casual communication persuaded companies to develop innovative products. Motorola invented the “world’s first two-way pager in 1995” (“Motorola History”, 2008). This device allowed
References: Schumacher, E. F. (n.d.). Quotations about simplicity. Retrieved on February 25, 2009, from http://www.quotegarden.com/simplicity.html Gibson, S Bellis, M. (n.d.). History of pagers and beepers. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/pager.htm Motorola Brown, B. (2001, April 24). Pagers: Blackberry RIM 957. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,255915,00.asp Palenchar, J Street Directory. (n.d). Two way pagers vs. cell phones. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/148936/cell_phones/two_way_pagers_vs_cell_phones.html McDonald, D., Pratt, W., Reddy, M., & Shabot, M Partin, C. (2003). The tell-tale beeper. Annals of Internal Medicine, 139 (4), 299-300. Retrieved from www.annals.org Scigliano, E