Have you ever seen an older movie in which one of the
characters is using a cellular phone with an enormous battery pack hanging from
a bag on their hip or back? Technology has advanced so much since then. We came
a long way from those bulky and cumbersome mobile phones as we progressed over
the decades. The early 1990s saw trimmed down models of cell phones that no
longer required the huge battery packs or the cords unless attached to a car.
The late 1990s and the early 2000s saw the mobile phone take on a smaller design,
and included games such as Snake (Amazon Research & Conservation Center,
2013, “Mobile Gaming”). Today’s smartphones have numerous features that many
consumers desire, such as GPS capability, streaming video, various apps, and digital
music players. The also operate at lightning speeds in comparisons to earlier
versions. In addition, cell phones now can weigh mere ounces and are ultra-sleek
in design. Who would have thought that mobile phone technology would advance to
the lengths that it has today?
As I type this post, I think about how our society has also
evolved along with the mobile phone. When the first mobile phone call was made
on June 17, 1946, society changed as we knew it (AT&T, 2013, “1946”).
Businesses were able to stay connected with their customers (AT&T, 2013, “1946”).
As the technology in cell phones grew more advanced, society grew more eager to
have the latest version. With each new development in mobile phone technology,
with each addition to the basic design of the mobile phone, people began to
change. They began to see themselves in from on the small screens of their
phones more than interacting with the rest of society on a personal level.
Mobile phone technology allowed people to maintain valuable connections with
the rest of the world without actually having to interact with others
personally through text messages, e-mails, and voice calls. We could be in the “here
and now” wherever we were without actually being there physically. With this
ultimate advantage, cell phones became a staple in every person’s repertoire of
items to take with them when going anywhere.
In her TED Talk video titled “The Anthropology of Mobile
Phones,” which was posted in October 2007, Jan Chipchase makes a great point
concerning mobile phones. She said that “if [we] ask people what the three most
important things that they carry are—across cultures and across gender and
across contexts—most people will say keys, money, and if they own one, a mobile
phone” (Chipchase, 2010, “The Anthropology”). What she said is so true for
millions of people around the world. Just today, all I carried out of the door
when I went to the gym was my keys, my credit card, and my cell phone. For many
people, these items are the essential tools they need to carry on a productive
day. Cell phones are essential to our daily lives, and we will quickly become
frazzled and out of sorts if we misplace our smartphones or someone steals
them. I add my weekly appointments for me and my family on my Google calendar,
which automatically updates my calendar on my phone, I conduct most of my
banking and bill paying on my phone through my banks’ and utility companies’ apps,
and I search for information for research assignments and just for everyday use
through the Google search feature. I never pictured myself becoming one of the
masses who is glued to a phone or any other mobile device, but I think it was
inevitable that I would.
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| The cracked screen on my HTC Vivid. It definitely was a challenge having to work around all of these cracks! |
I
remember when my parents got their first cell phones. At the time, my siblings
and I were intrigued with them, despite their simple design and functions. We
had experienced desktop computers, but having cell phones in the house meant
that we were “moving up” in a sense. A few years later when I turned seventeen,
I got my first cell phone, a Nokia 6610. When I figured out how to send text
messages and download music, I believe it was then that I became hooked into
mobile technology. Each of my mobile phones after that one was better than the
one before it. Currently, I own an HTC One, which I purchased to replace the second
HTC Vivid I broke the screen on. As soon as I bought my One, I transferred “my life”
from the Vivid to it so that I would not miss a step in my daily routine. I
have even added the same apps and settings to my Barnes and Noble NOOK, which I
also carry with me. I hate to admit it, but I have fallen victim to mobile
technology consumerism, and I believe that I will only become more engrossed in
technology as it quickly transforms to meet the growing needs of our society.
Mobile technology developers are not slow to the desires of
our consumerist society. They see our demand for the next best thing and they
work hard to fulfill our “need” for new and attractive technology. Andreas M.
Kaplan wrote in his article, “If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile
marketing and mobile social media 4x4,” which was published in Business Horizons in 2012, that our
society has fallen into a state of “impulsiveness” (Kaplan, 2012, p. 132). He
explains this impulsiveness with “impulsiveness theory, which states that
people constantly struggle between displaying long-term control and giving into
short-term temptations” (Kaplan, 2012, p. 132). Many of these companies see our
vulnerabilities when it comes to mobile technology and cater to these
weaknesses by providing us with the features and apps we need to conduct the
business of our lives with ease.
With the rapid rise in availability of mobile technology, it
is easy to see how these companies make a profit off us consumers. This supply
and demand cycle that we have created leads me to wonder and ask these questions:
have we allowed mobile technology to become too integrated in our lives? Have
we given over too much power over our lives to companies and developers, who
push these products in our faces on a daily basis? Have we become so lazy that
we would rather have things the easy way all the time instead of having to put
in any effort?
Some people criticize the way our society has come to depend
on mobile technology, lamenting our abdication from, and the slow demise of,
traditional platforms like television and radio. Henry Blodget, author of “‘Mobile
First’ Is a Dumb Strategy,” which was published on December 22, 2012, wrote
that “as long as there are offices and desks, it seems highly unlikely that big
screens, keyboards, and touchpads/mice are going to become an afterthought.” Despite
this fact, mobile technology will only continue to be an integral part of our
lives. As strategic communicators, we are responsible for being ready to handle
the newest forms of mobile technology that come along in order to serve our
audiences appropriately.
References
Amazon Research &
Conservation Center. (2013). “Mobile gaming.” Amazon Research & Conservation Center. Retrieved from http://amazoncenter.org/arcc/downloads/online-gaming/
AT&T. (2013).
“1946: First mobile telephone call.” AT&T
Intellectual Property. Retrieved from http://www.corp.att.com/attlabs/reputation/timeline/46mobile.html
Blodget, Henry.
(2012, December 22). “‘Mobile first” is a dumb strategy.” Business Insider, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/survey-mobile-first-bad-strategy-2012-12
Chipchase, Jan. (2007, October). “The anthropology of mobile
technology.” TED Talks. Podcast
retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html
Kaplan, Andreas
M. (2012). “If you love something, let it go mobile” Mobile marketing and
mobile social media 4X4. Business Horizons,
55, 129-139. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2011.10.009
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