Cell Phone Analysis Paper

ACST 200
Object Analysis Paper
9.27.10
Cell Phones It is nearly impossible to walk into any public place without seeing at least one person talking or texting on their cell phones. Cell phones have become such a part of our everyday life it’s hard to imagine a world without them. Cell phones not only have become part of our lives, for some people they are their life. What I mean by that is you can tell a lot about a person by how they use their cell phone, what type of cell phone they have including brand, color, and style yet still there are even more cultural ideologies associated with cell phones that I am going to look at in this paper. The first cultural ideology I think of when it comes to cell phones is what kind of phone someone has. Is it the newest high tech gizmo gadget with all the extras that costs a fortune or
is it just a plain Jane pay as you go Wal-Mart bought cell phone. The more expensive and high tech the phone usually means the more tech savvy or business orientated the person is. They are looking to use their phone for more than just making and receiving calls. Expensive high tech smart phones are usually associated with younger people as well. You don’t see too many 90 year olds at the nursing home listening to the latest hip-hop video on You-tube with their cell phone, but you do see many teenagers who think the cooler the cell phone they have the cooler they will be. Smart phones are also for people who are very busy with their work. For example people with Blackberry’s usually have them because of work and need to be reached by email at all time. I personally prefer to have a cell phone that is inexpensive yet functional with good service and is easy to text on because that is what I use it the most for. I don’t have the internet on my phone and don’t seem to mind it. I think I would be too distracted with it and would not like to pay that much money for it when I have a computer I could use. I think I am definitely the minority among young adults. Most of my friends seem to have smart phones but I don’t find them a necessity. A second cultural ideology embedded within cell phones is that it is rude to use them in most places.
Everywhere you go, hospitals, theatres, classrooms, libraries, sporting events, etc you usually see a sign that says no cell phones allowed. Yet it never fails to see someone in class texting while they think no one is looking, or hear a phone ring during a quiet part in a movie theatre. It’s annoying. Whatever happened to the days when people were not available every second of every day? I think people who constantly have the phone glued to their ear or fingers so strong they could win an Olympic event in texting are very wrapped up in the world around them that they don’t take time to enjoy it. They are always on the go, always working, and are high strung highly stressed and as a result probably have high blood pressure. A third cultural assumption with cell phones is their use along with driving and how dangerous it is. This is a hot topic and there are laws being made to prevent the use of cell phones while driving. Many people are following Oprah’s motto and taking her pledge to leave their cell phones turned off while
driving. A fourth ideology that comes along with cell phones is that everyone must have one. I can honestly say that I don’t know one person or at least family who does not own a cell phone. It is definitely not normal for people these days to not own a cell phone. I mean there are people who can’t afford medical insurance, decent clothing, or even basic necessities but they probably have at least some kind of cell phone, regardless of age. My 6 year old cousin has a blackberry and knows how to use every application better than most cell phone salesmen. On the other hand, my 85 year old grandma has a cell phone that is made special for people who have trouble seeing. It has extra large buttons and numbers and only does the basic functions of making and receiving calls. Either way, everyone has a cell phone or has access to one, they are everywhere. Cell phones can even reflect gender and age; they have macho black phones with cool manly designs, they even have sponge bob square pants phones for little kids. Then there are bedazzling kits to bedazzle your phone to make it look pretty, or they have phone covers of every color and little gems you can hang from the antenna to personalize it. Cell phones have become reflective of the person who owns it; they have the ability to dress it up to their liking. In conclusion, people use cell phones everywhere at any time to do everything. If we took them away for even half a day, I don’t think people would know what to do with themselves. Cell phones have become so engrained within our culture it’s hard to imagine a world before they existed. If it were up to me, I could go without my cell phone for a while. I think it would be nice to get away and not be able to be reached if I don’t want to be, however I don’t think many people feel the same way.