The mobile phone, undoubtedly is one of the greatest inventions in modern times. Thanks to Martin Cooper’s ingenuity in 1973, now, over five billion people across the world communicate with one another at different locations using mobile phones. (ITU, 2010). Today, mobile phones have evolved to Smartphones representing a clear instance of the network society at work.
This work will take a look at the rise in mobile phone usage, the benefits and risks of usage, as well as the implications which the devices carry for “the self”, group identity formation and the environment.
Lacohee et al (2003) trace the commercial use of mobile phones to 1947 when AT&T offered a radio-telephone service between New York and Boston in the US. The first fully automatic mobile phone system (which operated through the car’s battery and weighing no less than 40g) were however later created in Sweden by TeliaSonena and Ericsson in 1956. The development of mobile phones is typically discussed in terms of the different generations of the technology – 1G, 2G and 3G. (1G being the first generation of mobile phones which used analogue technology based on the creation of cellular network that included a series of base stations providing radio coverage over large geographical areas).
The development and distribution of discrete software products or applications commonly called Apps gives smartphones users “superior mobile experience” and the craving for more. The creation of the Apps Universe which lies at the heart of this whole enterprise birthed outlets such Google Play. Consequently, mobile phone usage across the world is expected to rise to about 4.78 billion users by 2020 (eMarketer, 2016).
According to Proske, et al (2016), the average lifetime of a smartphone is three years. Beyond three years, many users want a new device which brings (Parikka, 2014) to wonder what happens to old mobile phones and what the environmental implications of discarding old phones would be. Whereas, Focault (1988) captures his own view of the implications of the technology in his seminal work “Technologies of the self”, Siapera, (2018:193) introduces the concept of “moral panic” into the discussion of smartphone.
Whilst cost-benefit analysis of mobile phones rages with underlying concerns over obsolescence, environmental degradation, costs and other related matters it yet unclear how far the “rise of the network society” can go. In the meantime, we can only enjoy the technology it as it lasts. Enjoy!
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PS: “UNDERSTANDING NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGY BY EUGENIA SIAPERA” IS A SYNTHESIS I PRESENTED WHILE STUDYING FOR MA IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES AT UCC.