Everywhere we go and every place we look we see a cell phone.  They appear everywhere in our world and if I didn’t know better I would say they are taking over.  This morning on my bike ride to class, I dodged people talking on them.  It doesn’t seem to matter if they are walking or biking, almost everyone is talking or texting.  This is what our world has become.  When I think about my lifetime and how I first learned about cell phones, it was from my parents, specifically my dad.  My dad is a physician so it is understandable that he always carries the device on him.  I can remember begging my parents to get me one.  The idea of them seemed so cool and grown up, I couldn’t wait for my time to come.  When it finally did, it was great, everything I could have hoped for.  Now, I could call my friends from anywhere I wanted and at whatever time I wanted. Oh wait, I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere I wanted, and yes, my parents took away my phone at 9:00p.m.  Okay, so not necessarily an anywhere anytime kind of thing…yet.  I still had hope for the years to come.  So for now, I could call my friends if I was outside of my house! I couldn’t believe it.  Since I never really needed to make a call and I wasn’t supposed to use my cell phone except for emergencies, I didn’t really get the chance too often.  But, it was okay, I know how cool I looked when I could whip my cell out of my pocket and pretend to be doing something ridiculously important on it.  That was all that mattered, that appearance.  If one thinks about it, that must be a big part of what cell phone companies are after.  If we think back to the first invention of a cell phone they did not flip open, slide up, have a touch screen, or a keyboard, they couldn’t play music, they couldn’t take pictures; they could call.  Since then, the gadgets we have all become dependent on can do those things and more.  In addition to that, think of their design.  They come in different shapes, sizes, and colors; oh my! When we think about it, why is all of that necessary to make a call?  It’s not.  This is why I am convinced that this is not the only reason people own cell phones.  It can almost be seen as a status symbol.  How superficial is that?  Extremely; but, sadly, this is a big part of our world today and those cell phone manufacturers know it.  They get us right where they want us, feeding out of the palms of their hands waiting for what new feature and cool name the next cell phone will have.  That is how the cycle seems to revolve, they invent it, and we buy it.

The device is black with silver accents.  It is nine inches long and five inches wide.  It is an inch to two inches in width.  The entire piece is made of metal.  On the back there are the letters ‘LG’ with a winking face.  There is also a silver rectangle on the back with a circle like eye in the middle.  On the sides of the device, there are buttons and cutouts.  The front has a shiny almost glossy surface.  Again, it has the LG symbol and the word ‘alltel’ written on the front cover.  In its resting position the screen does not illuminate and it is almost possible to see a fuzzy reflection of oneself.  However, once the front screen is slid upward, the entire front surface lights up.  There are several different pictures on the screen that seem to change in random order.  If one was to touch the screen it displays the time and several icons.  If the screen is touched the entire device vibrates.  Once the screen is slid upward, there are numbers zero to nine with letters ‘a’ through ‘z’ on each button.  There are three letters on each button.  One button says ‘talk’ in green and another ‘end’ in red.  When I feel the buttons they are smooth and slightly raised in a distinct sort of wave pattern.  If I push the button, it makes a barely audible clicking sound.  If one looks closely, it is possible to see fingerprints and smudges on the screen.  When turned on, the buttons light up.  If a call is received, the device either makes a noise like a song or vibrates.  Once a call has ended, the screen will stay lit for thirty seconds and then turn dark and black again.  It feels cold to the touch and has a hard surface.  It contains no distinct smells or taste.

That silver rectangle on the back of the device that contains an eye like circle is actually a camera.  This within itself says something about cell phone owners, manufacturers, and our society.  This new addition to current cell phones means that people who possess cell phones take pictures.  However, why do people take pictures? What is the purpose?  People didn’t have cameras millions of years ago and managed to survive.  As time has gone on, people in our world like to record special events that happen so we don’t have to rely solely on our memory.  With this technology available to us, there is no reason that we shouldn’t take pictures.  Pictures can symbolize and represent so many different things in life.  Looking at pictures has become such a special part of our society that we have scrap books, picture albums, and even special websites devoted to showing our pictures.  On top of just a regular camera, the thing that makes it more distinguished and relatable to this concept is that fact that there are digital cameras like the ones in our phones.  This can be interoperated that people of our world like instant gratification.  Now, there is no more driving to the store, filling out order forms, and waiting until they develop it.  The theme in the cell phone and the camera is its simplicity.  They are here to make our life easier.  Who wouldn’t be addicted to that? 

The original cell phone was an extremely large device that people carried around in their car.  Normally, only the rich would own them.  However, over the years, the cell phone itself and the people who own them have changed in several ways.  When first invented, the cell phone carried out a very practical purpose.  It possessed such a great idea.  This great idea was the ability to make a call from anywhere.  So many times people need to make an important call when they are not in their home.  This is very true in the case of emergencies.  Needless to say, in order to make that call, it is unnecessary to have other features on the phone.  However, everyday, technology becomes more advanced and more amazing.  As time went on, the cell phone became smaller and smaller.  Not only that, it became more socially acceptable and understood that many different types of people would carry them.  This led the advertising away from strictly focusing on the rich.  Originally, it did not flip up, slide, or even twist and turn.  But today, cell phones can do almost more maneuvers than I’m sure some ever thought possible.  This fact indicates how cell phone companies are trying to promote themselves and who they are targeting.  Their design alone makes them more easy and discrete to use.  My dad once told me a story of when he was in the heart of Detroit on the side of the road because his car had broken down.  He was going through medical school and had just purchased his first cell phone.  The phone was so large that it took up his entire brief case.  Since he was stranded on the side of the road, he dialed the number he needed and put the phone back in his brief case.  He held the brief case up in the air, near his ear and started explaining the situation to whomever he had called for help.  I wasn’t there so I don’t know the exact conversation but I do know that it was something like, “I’m stranded in Detroit and I’m talking into my brief case, help me.”  This instance helped me understand the situation.  My dad was certainly not “rich” but he did possess a cell phone and he knew how he could be perceived.  Now if someone was stranded on the side of the road, no matter where they were, we would expect to see them on a cell phone.  This shows how accustomed our society has become to them and how we almost could not function without them.  Now, their small design, their capability to flip open, and the function that can turn them from loud to vibrate makes them much more user friendly.  Now, anytime a person walks into a classroom they see kids hiding the phone under their desk to send text messages.  This design expands its target audience and promotes their use to everyone. 

  We have seen how cell phones have progressed over the years.  The convenience they provide us makes us all the more dependent on them.  Their capability to take pictures, flip, slide, their size, shape, and new colors are all things that promote its use to different parts of the population.  Not only to more of the population, but different kinds of people of all ages.  For instance, now that cell phones come in bright colors, have cameras, and features such as touch screens, this opens its user audience to a younger crowd.  Kids are starting to have cell phones at younger and younger ages.  Toy companies even make toy cell phones.  In our world, five year olds know what a cell phone is and possibly how to use it.  On the news, I saw a story about a woman who taught her daughter a song teaching her how to use a cell phone in case of emergency.  The song went “911 green, 911 green, 911 green.”  This idea actually worked!  As helpful as these devices can be, we need to remember that all of the new high tech features are not necessary to simply make a phone call.  It is scary that many of us would not even know what to do and how to carry on our lives without them.  To have any kind of hope for the future, the first step, like any addiction is admitting that our society has a problem.  In the past five years we have developed so much new technology; it is crazy to think about what we will have in the next five years, or when we have kids.  Do we really want our children to be as addicted to these devices like we are already?  I hope not.  The next time we go to take out our cell phone, we should really ask ourselves, ‘is it necessary?’  We use these things because we can and because they are available to us.  Perhaps we should stop thinking that way and utilize all of our options.  I’m not saying it won’t be hard.  The manufacturers and advertisers know how to keep us wanting more.  Next time a new feature or phone comes out, think of how much money we can save ourselves.  If we don’t, cell phones really will be taking over.