Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Cell Phones: The Cigarette of The Modern Generation

Choose one way in which technology has changed human society and explain the impact of that change, positive and/or negative.

In almost every corner of the planet cellular communication has risen. Antiquating the telephone wires and curly pig-tailed phones of old, shiny black and silver portable communicators with sliding touch-sensitive screens have become prolific. They connect to others in seconds, to countries in moments. They send images and videos to friends and family isolated from one another by land and sea. They have become the defining point of a generation. Texting championships are held in New York, where youthful participants have the chance to win up to $50,000. Cell phone addiction has become a recognized medical diagnosis nation wide. These small telecommunicators have altered the way the world shares thoughts, messages, sights and sounds in ways that were unimaginable when Martin Cooper invented the first cellular telephone in 1973. The analog to digital transition, the landline to radio wave switch, has been met with great satisfaction by millions. There are underlying dangers waiting, however. With increasing evidence these still very new technological devices are becoming more dangerous then people would like to believe. This leaves some pensive. Others frightened.

The first telephone was invented by a Mr. Alexander Grahm Bell in 1876. He made his first call in March of that year to a Mr. Watson, simply stating: “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.” This is tame in comparison to the endless amount of information that 87.7 million Verizon subscribers are able to access and share this year. It seems that no fall, fart or snotty sneeze is safe when 276.6 million wireless subscribers in the USA are able to transmit the photos and footage of the event to whomever they see fit. YouTube is swamped with grainy movies, shot on cell phone cameras, encapsulating moments that would have never been seen by more than a few people fifteen years ago. Homework problems can be shared on a peer-to-peer basis instantaneously though texting and photos of the actual assignments. This web of cellular telecommunication connects people in ways that simplify and expedite their lives. With unlimited access to the world from someone’s palm, what more could be asked for?

Cell phones operate on a full-duplex system. This means that the cell phone uses a frequency for talking and another separate frequency for listening, enabling both individuals on the call to talk at once. In the typical analog cell phone system used in the United States, the cell phone holder receives around 800 frequencies to use across the city they live in. The provider (i.e. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) separates the city into cells. Each cell is typically sized at about 10 square miles on a hexagonal grid, thus “cell phones.” With this system comes the direct exposure to radio waves sent and received by the cellular device. Articles are popping up at an alarming rate, specifically analyzing the scientific dangers that cell phones present to the modern public:

Summer 2006: the Hamburg Morgenpost: ARE WE TELEPHONING OURSELVES TO DEATH?

December 2007: Agence France-Presse: ISRAELI STUDY SAYS REGULAR MOBILE USE INCREASES TUMOUR RISK

January 2008: London's Independent: MOBILE PHONE RADIATION WRECKS YOUR SLEEP

September 2008: Australia's The Age: SCIENTISTS WARN OF MOBILE PHONE CANCER RISK

Fall 2009: the Danish journal Dagens Medicin: MOBILE PHONES AFFECT THE BRAIN'S METABOLISM

In September of 2007, the European Environment Agency warned that cell phone technology "could lead to a health crisis similar to those caused by asbestos, smoking, and lead in petrol." A Fox News video article posted on Friday, January 29th of this year informed viewers that the World Health Organization had determined a strong connection between cell phone use and brain cancer. It seems that this potential danger would be easily ousted if people stopped using cell phones. There in lies the rub.

For this generation, we will be faced with an addiction. An addiction to the speed of communication and the simplicity of informational access. Every call taken and every text sent is the same as the slow inhalation of a cigarette. The radio waves to the brain are the same as a cloud of smoke to the lungs. The slow and eventual creation of biological cellular mutation. Whether we decide to “quit” is entirely our choice. But as an active cell phone user, I wonder if I will have the strength to break the bond of an addiction stronger than nicotine.

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