Thursday, June 25, 2009

transformation to an industrial society

Listening to the segment on NPR last week about cell phones helped me put into perspective just how lost I would be without my cell phone. I think this statement would be even stronger if I ever lived outide of the U.S.

As it is, I am extremely relient on my phone as a constant line of communication to family, friends, coworkers, etc. via talking, text messaging, email and BBM (Blackberry Messenger, which is similar to AIM - AOL Instant Messenger). I also use my phone to go online and for simple banking. If I lived outside the U.S. and was somehow forced to not have a bank on every corner or a common meeting place like Starbucks on every block, I could see myself handling the bulk of my business from my phone - especially with the high costs of the other types of technology that exist, i.e. laptops.

We currently live in a society that is technology driven - and even that is an understatement.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

introduction

The aspect of technology that I will focus on for this blog is the cell phone. Although I would assume that the overwhelming majority of the population reading this knows what a cell phone is, I will give a brief description anyway.

Wikipedia describes a cell phone as a long-range, electronic device used for mobile voice or data communication over a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. In addition to this function, which now seems basic, cell phones are used for text messaging, email, internet, banking, gaming, bluetooth, camera/video recording, MP3 player, radio, and GPS.