Cellphones

In this section we define what cellphones are and explore their present popularity in society.

What??

A cellphone is a portable wireless telephone that allows for telecommunication usually in a specified area normally defined by the user's geographical position. It is also known as a mobile phone, cellular phone or handphone.

Popularity

As technology is increasing at an incredibly rapid pace, cell phones are becoming increasingly popular with each passing day. The fast technological development can be judged from the fact that about twenty years ago, cell phones were seen as huge, heavy and expensive devices made only for the elite class, the police force and the army. But now 50% of all American children own cell phones. Even in the developing countries the demand for cell phones is increasing day by day and people are using them for personal and business purposes.

With slider phones offering a larger main display than their flip phone counterpart, smartphones that slide horizontally to reveal QWERTY keyboards and the Apple iPhone's full touchscreen display, the general public is taking further interest in these phones upon recognizing their uniqueness and versatility of different features and even virtual buttons via the touchscreen instead of the mundane physical ones.

Furthermore, mobile entertainment has also become an essential motivation to obtain cell phones. Music phones like the Sony580i serve as MP3 players, whereas camera phones are nowadays taking pictures which are as clear as separate digital cameras. Thirdly mobile web surfing is gaining popularity too. The Safari web browser is particularly powerful on iPhones.

In short, cellphone packages are becoming cheaper and progressively more appealing in almost everywhere in the world, making them a highly sought after device which accompany us through our daily lives and as such, come with an invisible force of cause and effect, merits and demerits.

Acknowledgements:

1. Kiwanja for the image. (28th March 2009)
2. Christiana Varda on her article for cellphone popularity (29th March 2009)