Image Source: Pexels- Julia Volk
As someone who grew up to see the first mobile phone come out, the introduction of the internet, and computers go from clunky, large PCs to slimline flat screens and handheld tablets, you could say I’ve seen a lot of change. New products come and go while others reform with customer demands, keeping up with the changing times or even being one step ahead.
One of these products that has always been changing is the mobile phone. First released on the market by Motorola in 1984, “The Brick Phone,” as it was nicknamed, weighed 2.5 pounds and had a talk time of 30 minutes, with a charge time of 10 hours. It became a symbol for the wealthy.
As the years went on, Samsung would join the mobile frontier in 1988, they were soon followed by Nokia in 1992, and later, the iPhone would make an appearance in 2007.
As the phone has grown over the years, becoming more accessible to the general public, they have also become more advanced. Games were added, and they started to become smaller. Then, the smartphone was introduced in 1994. With phones now being minicomputers in our pockets, are we handing too much power to technology and our phones?
With apps like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, popular social media apps are available for both adults and children alike. As well as games like Monopoly Go, Pokémon Go, Candy Crush Saga, and Fortnite. People don’t just spend time on their phones for calls anymore. This device, which was designed to make life easier for people to stay in contact with each other, has not only done that but so much more.
It has opened the door for online business, enabled businesses from around the world to have video conferencing from the comfort of their own home, and given millions of people access to banking apps, but there are endless possibilities for what apps they can access and what else they can do as the mobile phone progresses.
There is, of course, a negative to everything; people have become addicted to their phones. Posting everything they do on social media, playing games for hours, and even refusing to talk to other people unless it’s through text.
Has this once marvelous invention become more of a hindrance than a convenience?
As I sat in a café the other day, it was sad to see so many people had their phones out, but what was worse was the fact that these people who had met up to have coffee together sat in silence as they all were too focused on their phones.
Are we to become a society of mutes, ruled by the mobile phone, as we scroll social media, lost in a world that no longer exists?
This was written by our contributing writer, Leah Palmer.
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