Cell Phones - Research Paper Example

The main reasons for this monumental change over such a short, time are the abilities that science and technology has conferred to modern phones, particularly mobile devices. Today, a phone has acquired such a wide variety of uses that a phone without the ability to call, while it would be dysfunctional, would still be a viable communication device. On the other hand, a 1990s phone would be useless if one could not make or receive calls on it. While the early phones were expensive gadgets and the reserve for the rich and educated, today they can be owned by almost anyone and one needs only the most basic education to use a phone.

Mobile phone companies are competing to see whose device can hold and use the most applications and offer the best services other than calling. One can use their mobile phone to browse the internet, and as such access pertinent information from virtually anywhere in the world, provided they have a good signal. As a result, millions of people many of them youths spend hundreds of hours every week using their phones on nonverbal interaction and social networking, indeed, the time spent making phone calls pales in comparison to the time spent on Facebook, tweeter, instant messaging or in related activities.

Many mobile phones offer the user a capacity to do any of these activities especially the smart phones, described as “clever gadgets,” which are more than just phones, (McKendrick, 2011). This is because of their many features that transcend what ordinary mobile phones can do including a variety of user friendly applications that allow users to carry out a range of tasks such as; reading EBooks, teleconferencing, reading, and creating emails. Mobile phones can also be used in time of emergencies; to call for help, or look for directions when one is lost because some of them have gotten applications like Google maps, which enable users to look for direction, and pinpoint their current location.

Furthermore, mobile companies use the technology to help the police trace lost people or criminals by tracing their signals. Indeed a lost person can be traced even if their phone is switched off (Siegel, 2008). Other security futures include sending distress messages without having to make a phone call, for instance with some Samsung phones one only need to press the volume key thrice, and a discrete text is sent to a pre-determined number notifying the recipient that the sender is in danger.

Mobile devices are also used as/alongside baby monitors, using certain IPhones applications parents use their Smartphone to keep an “eye” on their infants. For instance, one can use an application that automatically sends a message to their phone whenever the child makes noise or cries (Associated Press, 2009). A more rudimentary albeit expensive tactic, which can be used, is to leave one phone in the baby crib with an active connection to another phone, possibly with a headpiece so one can listen to the baby without being present.

Mobiles phones today have an immense entertainment role and are competing with mainstream media such as Television and radios. Several phone types allow one to listen to radio and watch television on the move. Teens and young adults (13-24) are the leading users of mobile devices for these functions (chiff.com