Mobile phones

Introduction

Mobile phones are being used widely these days. We can see people using mobile phones in any place at any time. While they are walking in the street, driving the car, eating, shopping, in the cinema, in meetings, offices, just woke up or even in the toilet. Mobile phones are being used by all categories of the society regardless of their age, educational level, financial, nationality or health condition. The use of mobile phones grew over the years considerably and technologies in mobile phones have changed drastically over the years. In this report I will discuss the history of mobile phones and the current uses.

History

The history of mobile phones can be traced back to the 1940s where the radio technology was used in taxis, police cars, trucks and other emergency vehicles. How Mobile Phones have changed from The People History Site  ) They used this technology in police cars so that the police stations could communicate with the policemen and give them orders and directions while truckers used them to communicate with each other. Mobile phones history could also be traced back to individuals who had special radios that can be linked to a phone line by an operator to make a phone call. (History of Cell Phones) The radio technology is claimed to be the base technology of our current cell phones and this technology has been under development since the 1940s. The first commercial phone was introduced by Motorola company in 1983 and it took 15 years to develop the phone before introducing it to the market. (History of Cell Phones) This phone was introduced with the automated cellular network which is called the 1G. The 1G was first launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 1979, (Mobile phone). The second generation phones were first used in 1991 on the 2G network which was first launched in Finland while the third generation phones were first used in 2001 and once again Japan was the first country to employ the 3G network.

Current uses

Today, mobile phones are very common and they are used on a daily basis to do many different tasks other than making phone calls. For example, today’s mobile phones can be used to surf the internet or receive and send e-mails while you are driving or sitting in a restaurant having dinner. They can be used also as a multifunctional device and perform allot of small tasks like texting, time managing, taking notes, saving contact details and many other things.

Impact

We can divide the impact of mobile phones into positive and negative impacts. For example mobile phones can save our lives in case of an accident in the middle of the highway where we can call the police and ambulance help, or in the middle of the desert if you are going for sand dune bashing and the car gets stuck, you can call for somebody to come and tow the car. Also mobile phones are being used as entertainment devices where you can download or play games. Mobile phones now are a very convenient way to communicate with anyone on the move either by text messaging, calling or even by e-mail and that made it easier to finish work or keep in touch with friends and family anywhere we are. Although there are many advantages that I didn’t mention yet, there are also many disadvantages to the mobile phones technologies like talking in the phone while driving which can cause accidents. Mobile phones are a big distraction especially to students in classes and most of the teachers are having to deal with students who are using their phones in class and that will affect their studies. One of the disadvantages also is that we are expected to be available all the time; everybody expects you to answer the phone any time anywhere without taking in to consideration that you are sleeping or on a vacation or not in the mood for answering the phone and that can affect your relation with the others if they think that you are trying to avoid them.

Future of mobile phones

It is said that mobile phones will be the remote controls of your life in the future. (William Webb 2007). It is going to take the role of our credit cards and going to do all of our payments just by scanning them like London’s Oyster card used for transport. (William Webb 2007). It’s going to be our navigation system where it will know our daily habits and start working before we even wake up and get information about the best route to work considering road works, traffic and accidents. (William Webb 2007). The Mobile phones technology is expected to develop significantly so that the mobile will take the role of many other devices and will do tons of functions that we don’t imagine phones can do.      

Conclusion

Mobile phones have improved in functionality and technology throughout the years and there is a huge capacity for improving even more. We didn't  know that the mobile phones would be the way they are right now and we don’t know what they will be like in the future. All we know is technology will never stop any time soon from developing and discovering new ways to use mobile phones. 

Bibliography

• "History of Cell Phones." TopBits by Tech-FAQ » . N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2011. <http://www.tech-faq.com/history-of-cell-phones.html>.
• "How Mobile Phones have changed" from The People History Site . Where People, History and Memories Join Together from The People History Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2011. <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/mobilephones.html>.
• "Mobile phone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone>.
•  Webb, William. "The Future of Mobile Phones: A Remote Control for Your Life - Magazines, Student - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. 14 May 2007. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/the-future-of-mobile-phones-a-remote-control-for-you-life-448816.html>.