CAPSTONE Essay - Are Cell Phones A Danger to Social Interaction?

The cell phone is a technology that meshed perfectly with the public
demand. People like to talk, and cell phones let them do it from anywhere,
explained Alan Nogee, a former program director for the Union of Concerned
Scientists Clean Energy Organization. Since the cradle of human civilization
communication between people has been a key aspect of human nature,
development and interaction. Even though cell phones and other cellular
devices have only been a very recent invention available to humanity, and
the way the world is rapidly evolving around the human species, cell phones
have nearly become a necessity to have to function and interact with others
in a modern society such as ours. This is due to our constant need and
desire for constant and timely interaction and communication with one
another as these devices have become so widely used around the world that
virtually everyone in the new rising generations of modern society are
constantly using them for business, personal, educational and entertainment
purposes.
It is fairly well known that cell phones are a relatively new technology
that were only introduced to the world around the year of 1983, when the
technology company of Motorola launched its product, the DynaTAC 8000x
mobile device to the public market. There existed mobile phones prior to
this point in time, even as early as 1973, but these phones were considered
by many to be way too large, awkward, and inconvenient for walking around
with and commonly referred to as car phones. Through the past forty or so
years of technological evolution, cellular devices have gone through
extremely rapid changes, enhancements and innovations. What started out
as clunky, four thousand dollar expensive phones, weighing in at two and a

half pounds, only capable of sustaining a thirty minute talk time has evolved
into todays smartphones, capable of so much more at a substantially
lower price, less weight, longer talk time and significantly more features and
benefits. After the initial Motorola devices were sold publicly, other
competing companies began to roll out their own interpretations and
versions of this type of device. Two leading competitors in this market were
Nokia and Blackberry. These later devices started out as gadgets that
blended a mixture between features of wireless phones and pagers with the
ability to now send text messages and have exceedingly simple applications.
Comparing these early devices to the currently offered Apple device, the
iPhone 6s, this specific new smartphone has the ability to: store up to 128
gigabytes of data storage (an entire development on its own), has fingerprint
identification, a 12-megapixel HD camera capable of taking picture and
video, send e-mails, browse the Internet at blazing fast LTE speeds, download
complex applications, send text messages and make phone calls wirelessly
all over the world, and hold up to twenty four hours of straight talk time, plus
so much more all in a device that only weighs in at 5.04 ounces. The
enormous technological advancements and leaps that the cell phone
industry has made continually impress many due to the only forty-year
history and how far the creators and manufacturers have come with these
devices.
Accompanying the advancement of the actual designs, uses and
specifications of these new devices, these devices have also created a very
significant impact on the way people live their lives. As these changes have
come so quickly in the last almost half century, there are no doubt conflicting
ideas and opinions about the change. These contrary positions lead to ongoing discussions and debates that have enough potential and impact to
influence many arguments to arise on the topic of whether or not cell phones
are dangerous and if they are even needed in everyday life. What is
interesting about this is that these varying arguments are typically

consistent and relative with the various generations having their own
personal views on the subject. Cell phones in todays society have
seemingly become a necessity to millions of people due fact that they have
become the new preferred alternative for communication, social interaction,
and powerhouses for productivity with a seemingly unlimited amount of
information at your fingertips.
Living in this current time in history, it does not take much to look
around and observe how much involved people around you, are with their
cell phones. It can be easily seen that people are watching videos, updating
their social status, posting pictures, texting, making phone calls and using
these devices for so much more. Something that all of these features have
in common is that they are conveying or transferring some kind of
information to other people on a receiving end. With the way the world is
progressing, and their widespread use, cell phones have become the primary
vital source of communication. It is true; cell phones have not always
existed and been in daily use by humanity with people getting along just fine
without these devices, up until some forty years ago. There are some who
might use this to argue the sole existence of these devices. One thing that
these people might not understand is that maybe their generation got along
just fine without them, but that was their generation. In todays new
generations, cell phones are the primary source of staying in contact with
friends, co-workers, and family. The old ways of communicating are still in
effect, such as the postal service, and will probably still be implemented and
utilized in some shape or form for many decades to come. However, the
frequency on how much this specific service is used to send direct personal
messages is most certainly on the decline. Nowadays, to send these types of
messages, you can either quickly log into your smartphone and either direct
message on social media, send a text message, or log into your e-mail and
send the message in that way. Time, just as well as advanced technology
cannot wait around for the older generations to finally catch up and realize

the changes to life that are being made, it can only move forward for the
new generations to implement what is released in the current time. With
new generations emerging, and technology only advancing, the change of
phones to cell phones to smartphones was inevitable whether we liked the
change or not. Altogether, these devices technically are not required to
sustain life, they have become essential to keeping up with the rest of the
world and to maintain that consistent quality of life, they are definitely
needed in this new era.
Still tying into the realm of evolving communication, social media is
what has come into play even more recently than smartphones. Though
smartphones have their place in being that base for current popular social
media applications such as SnapChat, Instagram, Phhhoto, VSCO, and many
others, social media has existed ever since the more developed technology
in computers have been around. Two of the most famous social media sites,
for example, Twitter since 2006 and Facebook since 2004 with the first
iPhone being released in 2007. The original idea for these social media
platforms was to create electronic virtual interaction zones for people. The
only thing that smartphones succeeded in was increasing the use and
popularity of the sites due to the sites always being accessible on your
mobile device with instant notification services from and on them. There are
many beliefs that having these sites accessible at all times of the day in
addition to all the other features included on cell phones today, create a view
of the users in reality to have no or impaired social skills in the case of direct
human interaction. Contrary to this belief of these sites reducing the amount
of interaction, social media does make you more social, it even includes the
word social. This is not to be confused with the fact that it is most likely
unhealthy, as any other form of addiction is, to be glued to your cell phone
at all hours of the day and night. Tying back to creating a social atmosphere
with people and making an extra social environment, these various sites
make it easier to communicate and even meet new people. For example, if

there is ever a name of someone you do not know, or would like to meet, it is
as simple as typing in the name of this person in order to be introduced to
their personal profile that they have set up themselves with information
about them including their personal photos and videos, people that they
know, their status updates, ability to friend and message them, etc. Social
media is not to be confused or used as a replacement as the sole form of
interacting with other people, but kind of a side note or a form of reaching
out to people to communicate with them.
In todays ever growing modern society, cell phones have become an
astounding companion for anyone, whether it be in school, the workplace, or
daily life. To break it down between these three key areas of life would be to
start at this technologies place in the schooling system from even as early as
pre-school up until college education. Cell phones definitely can perform as
a major distraction if used incorrectly in the education system, but they do
have their own place and have the potential, if used correctly, to assist in the
learning experience no matter the age group. This feat is accomplished
through the use of different apps and special learning programs that can
be installed on these devices. As for cellular device use in the workplace,
communication as well as easy access to the Internet on the go is typically
always important to succeeding no matter what profession is involved. Cell
phones of today make communication easy whether it is with co-workers or
clientele. For practical uses in daily activities, the list can go on and on for
the various uses that these new cellular devices can employ. The main point
is that though many may look upon these devices as unnecessary time
wasters, cell phones can also prove to be excellent devices to increase
productivity no matter what you are doing.
Ultimately, it is clearly apparent that in order to stay up to date and
connected in this current time period and in the modern world with new
advancements in communication, social interaction and staying at the
highest level of productivity, cell phones have become a necessity in todays

growing society. For those who believe otherwise or maintain the belief that
cell phones are a danger to social interaction, time will tell how much longer
these people who do not believe in the use of these devices will last. As
stated, the belief system based around cell phones not being imperative for
living in this current age is mainly and commonly associated with the older
generations who were not born growing up with these devices implanted in
their own personal lives. Looking for a solution or consensus between people
who have contrary views on this subject may still take time. The answer to
this problem; refer to Charles Darwin theory of natural selection, which is
defined by Merriam-Websters dictionary as, the process where organisms
adapt to their environment to survive. In this case, surviving is more of
an extreme example, but over time, if people still try and refuse to give in to
the way things are changing, they will be metaphorically be left behind by
humanity and live with a much different experience in their quality of life
than everyone around them who have chosen to accept the changes. Even if
some people choose to believe that cell phones are major time wasters and
that they make people less aware of their surroundings and detach
themselves from the real world, it is completely up to the way the users of
their devices choose to utilize them.

Works Cited

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Handsets That Made It ALL Happen." Know Your Mobile. Web. 20 May 2016.

Handel, Rachel. "The History and Evolution of Cell Phones." The Art Institutes
Blog. Ai. Web. 20 May 2016.

Kelley, Bridget. "What Is the Role of the Cell Phone in Communication

Today?" Small Business. Chron. Web. 20 May 2016.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 20 May 2016.

"All about the Cell Phone Industry." WorldAtlas. Economics, 4 Feb. 2016. Web.
20 May 2016.