Mobiles are becoming a crucial element of our culture. There’s no doubt about it. They help to smooth the path of our daily lives, as all the great inventions have done it before. However, some people ask about the price of this progress. Aerials near schools, kids of 6 years old with handsets, annoying noises in cinemas… So, is the mobile phone the best invention for the past 20 years? Or it is just a new device that has created a need latent in our society? We really need cell phones? These questions will be answered analyzing all the possible aspects for and against mobile phones.
Undoubtedly, handsets are changing our daily lives. They are supporting what is called a “perpetual contact”. In this sense, our communication needs are being completely satisfied, and what is more important, we can communicate in circumstances and places where we couldn’t in the past. We always imagine at this point someone lost with his broken car or any situation of emergency where help is required. Moreover, some people argue it isn’t just a nice way to stay in touch. It is a lifestyle, a new way of entertainment and a business tool. Guess why? Tradesmen use them to stay in touch with customers, teenagers has just in a device of 10 cm long ringtones, pictures from camera phones, wallpapers, games, video downloads... mobiles and its customisation gives them status and personality.
But it is clear that any way of progress has a price. According to Manuel Castells, being on-line, being in a “perpetual contact” is not always synonym of being in a real community. Nowadays, most of the people have a real communication but trough virtual communities. In this sense, Castells argues that the more we talk trough these devices the more we isolates from the personal contact, entering in what Castells calls “interactive loneliness”[1]. In this sense, we just have to take a look at the near future of communication: the mobile now is connecting to other devices and networks and to other media - television, newspapers, film, music, the Internet... so we will be able to keep us informed and entertain ourselves in our home without any contact with the real world.
To sum up, I believe mobile phones have meant a real step beyond. The mobile has smooth the way of our lives and has offered new ways of entertainment and communication indeed. However, there is a real problem: writing sms or being on-line in the messenger is slowly replacing personal contact. We have to ensure that mobiles will be always a tool to help us to be in touch, but never the exclusive and the main lifeline to the outside world.
Undoubtedly, handsets are changing our daily lives. They are supporting what is called a “perpetual contact”. In this sense, our communication needs are being completely satisfied, and what is more important, we can communicate in circumstances and places where we couldn’t in the past. We always imagine at this point someone lost with his broken car or any situation of emergency where help is required. Moreover, some people argue it isn’t just a nice way to stay in touch. It is a lifestyle, a new way of entertainment and a business tool. Guess why? Tradesmen use them to stay in touch with customers, teenagers has just in a device of 10 cm long ringtones, pictures from camera phones, wallpapers, games, video downloads... mobiles and its customisation gives them status and personality.
But it is clear that any way of progress has a price. According to Manuel Castells, being on-line, being in a “perpetual contact” is not always synonym of being in a real community. Nowadays, most of the people have a real communication but trough virtual communities. In this sense, Castells argues that the more we talk trough these devices the more we isolates from the personal contact, entering in what Castells calls “interactive loneliness”[1]. In this sense, we just have to take a look at the near future of communication: the mobile now is connecting to other devices and networks and to other media - television, newspapers, film, music, the Internet... so we will be able to keep us informed and entertain ourselves in our home without any contact with the real world.
To sum up, I believe mobile phones have meant a real step beyond. The mobile has smooth the way of our lives and has offered new ways of entertainment and communication indeed. However, there is a real problem: writing sms or being on-line in the messenger is slowly replacing personal contact. We have to ensure that mobiles will be always a tool to help us to be in touch, but never the exclusive and the main lifeline to the outside world.
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