Cell Phone Technology

“Whether we use cell phone technology at work, in public, or for personal reasons   it all contributes to how connected we feel to other people and to our daily obligations.” (Hanson) Take a walk down any major city in the world Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Mumbai, Shanghai, or New York City and you will most likely find someone attached to their cell phone or blackberry. The number of cell phone subscribers world wide reached 4.6 billion at the end of 2009 and estimates show a growth rate of one billion cell phone subscribers per year. (Wong) Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure of The International Telecommunications Union (ITU)   is “confident we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the internet.” And it would be no surprise considering the latest estimates for 2009 for the number of mobile phones in service among the leading economic countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). Brazil is currently ranked 5th in the world with 183.7 million, Russia is ranked 4th with 208.3 million, USA is ranked 3rd with 285.6 million, India is ranked 2nd with 601.2 million, and China is ranked 1st with 786.5 million cell phone subscriptions.(CIA World Fact book) The fact of the matter is cell phones have become the prominent form of communication   around the world. (ITU) These figures are clearly indicative of the cell phone phenomenon that is currently taking place on an international level. When faced with such astronomical figures we must ask our selves a few questions. How are cell phones affecting us culturally? and whats happening to our quality of life as a result of cell phone use? These are the topics that I will be exploring in this research paper.
People use cell phones for a variety of different reasons. They are used to keep in touch with family and friends, to develop social networks, search the internet, send emails and text messages, shop for deals, navigate on the road,... [continues]

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