Cell Phones: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The prevalence of mobile ph unriv alled recalls in American culture shouldnt come as in truth much of a surprise to anyone. Cell ring use up has risen In the coupled States from approximately 91,000 users 985 to In 2007 and n 2009 was whatsoeverwhere In the neighborhood of 280,000,000, which meat that approximately 90% of Americans own prison electric electric cell phones. And Americans arena the only ones. consort to a February 2010 article on www. Cobwebs. Com, in that respect are approximately 4. 6 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide and that number is expected to pound five billion by the end of the year.I had to wonder, what are the advantages and disadvantages of 90% of Americans (New York Times, whitethorn 13, 2010) and nearly 85% of the worlds population utilize cell phones? I numeral there had to be quite a few advantages for so more people to eat cell phones, so I asked around. The number one answer I found was the convenience. Peoples ability to be leaded at all eras, able to reach others at all times, and how fast communication with others has become. Cant reach someone by phone? Send a text. Text marrows are delivered al intimately Instantaneously and theres no command to eave a message and Walt for a call back anymore.Many others cited having a cell phone In field of emergency. According to Pew Internet, In 2006, 74% of cell phone users inform using their cell phones in emergency situations. While cell phone bills are usually not lower than landlines bills alone, the farseeing outstrip greet is significantly less for cell phone users. Long outmatch be are included in the all overall minute usage for most cell phone subscriptions, whereas many landlines providers charge by the minute for long distance calls. As cell phone technology advances, so o the tools available to cell phone users.A growing number of users report using their phones for such things as listening to music, checking e-mail, keeping their dai ly calendars, making foodstuff lists, and even keeping track of daily calorie intake. (New York Times, May 13, 2010). in that location are many organizational tools available on the new genesis of smart phones as well as many different navigational tools. GAPS locators In phones are subscribed to by many parents of underage cell phone users. Cell phones can in like manner be used as cameras and video rec revises and those photos and ideas are easily emailed to others or uploaded to sites such as chitter and Faceable.Entertainment is even making the list of advantages to having a cell phone these days. As I mentioned previously, users can listen to music on their cell phones, further it doesnt stop there. Technology has advanced so much that users can immediately watch television shows and movies on their phones. So it come outs I was correct about how many advantages must be out there, but what about the downside? The rattling first thought I had was about the ban on cell ph ones in schools and what a huge disruption cell phones must be In the classroom. That issue Is Just part of the larger issue of the far-flung distraction cell phones cause.Everywhere you go you see cell phones In use In the coffee shop, the movie theater, the grocery store, even church, and sequence driving. handout back to the cost of cell phones, while heavy long distance users may notice a relief in their long distance landlines. There are costs for air time usage, text message usage, broadband usage, music purchases, games purchases, and app purchases, not to mention the dreaded overage costs. almost cell phone companies charge as much as lux cents per minute or every minute of air time over your allotted plan.Add that to long contracts and hefty fees for canceling contracts and cell phones become quite an expensive venture. The ever-increasing technology is adding to these costs as well. Newer, smarter phones released every few months are of crinkle attractive to users, bu t on top of the cost of upgrading phones on a regular basis is the added cost of the service providers data package. In order to utilize these newer smart phones, the data package is a requirement and on average costs something like an additional $30 ere month. Aside from monetary impact, what about health impact?There seems to be quite a bit of worry over the radio frequency radiation habituated off by cell phones and cell phone towers. There is much argument about whether or not this sort of radiation is of any real concern, but according to www. Contemporaries. Com, there are many very serious health concerns to think about. There are reports that cell phone use can cause disturbances in sleep and concentration, fatigue, and headache. According to a BBC News report (wry. News. BBC. Co. UK), Cell phones image key brain cells and could institution the early onset of Alchemists disease Researchers contract found that radiation from cell phone handsets damages areas of the brain associated with learning, memory and movement. Reports linking cell phones to sterility in men, eye tissue damage, and increased chances of depression and cancer have also been published. In researching the negative effects of cell phones, I happened across some even more sinister effects. Take setting the act of displace, receiving, or forwarding perk upually explicit messages, photos, or images via cell phone, computer, or other chital device.These messages, photos, and images are then often being further disseminated through email and internet-based social networking websites well beyond their original intended recipients. (wry. Mass. Gob) There have been hundreds of reported cases of setting a handful of those cases involving suicide and/or sex offense criminal charges such as child pornography in the cases involving high school students. According to www. Masc.. Com, 39% of high schools students admit to sending these types of messages and 48% say theyve received them.Ano ther very dangerous habit Americans have developed is talking on their cell phone while driving. blow out have four times the risk of being in a crash if youre on the phone while driving. (www. Unfathomable. Com) Whats even scarier are the results of a Car and Driver Magazine study that found examing while driving is much worse than driving while intoxicated. The results of this study showed that unimpaired, it took the test driver . 54 seconds to brake when indicated to do so. Add four feet to that time for legally drunk drivers, thirty six feet for drivers discipline email and events feet for drivers reading a text. Http//www. Zinc. Com/id/31 545004/site/ 14081 545). According too report by the National Safety Council, 28% of accidents involve talking or test on cell phones. I couldnt help but notice that the risks seem to outweigh the benefits considerably, but I also admit that Im still prone to my cell phone. There has been their use elsewhere and I think there needs to b e much more, although, Im not certain how feasible that would be to accomplish. At any rate, we all make our own choices and we all need to make smarter choices about our cell phone use.