Postives and Negatives of Mobile Phones

Introduction “Investigate how the purchase of one electrical item may have a positive or a negative impact on people”.
I will be reporting on the positives and negatives of mobile phones. I will investigate how they can be sustainable as well as how they are not sustainable for the future. I will discuss various negative as well as positive issues like the health information regarding mobile phones. How mobile phones has helped the growth of various countries. Also how mobile phones are impacting child labour and human rights. Other issues like riots and Arab springs will also be reported on in great detail.
I will research the mobile company. I did primary research to find out which phone everybody has. This graph clearly indicates that most people I researched have Nokia.

Nokia in 1967, well it would have been difficult to predict how successful Nokia was going to become as they started off selling common products like wellington boots. There H.Q is located in Finland. The research and development of Nokia is located in Finland, Spain, and china, Denmark, Germany and England. The production of Nokia is located in UK, India, Brazil, Mexico, and china, Finland, Romania and Hungary. I will also examine the issue around how Colton is causing a bad effect on countries like Congo. I will seek different people’s views for an unbiased study into this investigation.
The mobile phone subscription has increased from 2002 and 2007 in every part of the world. Europe had the biggest increase in mobile phone subscriptions as it’s increased from 51,000 inhabitants to 111,000 inhabitants. This is because Europe is the richest continent in the world so it can afford for people to buy one or multiple phones to their likings. Asia has the biggest increase in developing continents. Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world. The GSM Association report on Africa says: It expects there will be more than 735 million subscribers by the end of 2012. Analysts say that there is high usage of mobile phones since the landline is bad and expensive.
”Now almost every adult, child and domestic pet seems to have one, given that 30 million phones are sold every year in UK”. Everyone seems to have a mobile phone. “More than a billion mobile phone connections have been added to the global tally in just 18 months, according to wireless intelligence”. “More than 10 billion phones have been sold worldwide since 1994”. This indicates how the usage of mobile phones has increased. “This device has become part of the fabric of society, whether a teenage girl taking a blackberry to bed with her, or a farmer in a African village trying to find out the latest crop prices”. Mobile phones have become a part of society all around the world. With 5 billion phones there are more mobile phones used then personal computers. “Five billion phones means there are more than three times as many phones than personal computers. It is said to believe that the market for mobile phones is likely to explode in the future. There are more people using a mobile phone than ever as over 70% of the world is mobile users. This is because the ever decreasing value of old phones means that mobile phones will be more affordable. In addition in this modern generation it’s socially considered rare to not have a phone. So from that social peer pressure everyone nowadays has a phone.
92% of the mobile phones users can’t get through a day without using their phones. This means most people use their phones every day and they are playing a important role in their life’s. 14% of the people have 2 or more mobile phones meaning they use multiple mobiles for multiple uses, For example one cheap phone for just calling abroad and one for luxury uses like entertainment. On average people in Britain make 2.8 calls a day and 3.6 text messages a day. 85% of children worldwide own a phone but only 30% of children have access to a book. This just shows how kids these days have own a phone rather than a book meaning more people have a phone rather than the tools needed for learning.
“Leapfrogging” is the concept that areas which have poorly-developed technology or economic bases can move themselves forward swiftly through the adoption of new systems without going through intermediary steps.. More recently idea of leapfrogging is being used in the situation of sustainable development for developing countries as a theory of development which may hurry development by skipping less efficient, more expensive or more polluting technologies and industries and move directly to more advanced ones. We watch this happening all around us: you don’t need a 20th century industrial base to build a 21st century bio/Nano/information economy. An example of leapfrogging is the adoption of mobile phones in the developing world. It’s easier and quicker to put in cellular towers in rural and distant areas than to put in land lines, and as an outcome, cellular use is exploding. As we know, mobile phone use already exceeds land line use in India, and by 2007, 150 million phone lines there will be cellular. There are alike examples from all over the world.

Positives
There are many positives for mobile phones. First one being that communication is now easier. More mobile phones for people meaning getting in touch with people are much easier than before. The independent by Diane Coyle said in an article for “how the mobile phone has given hope to a new generation of African people”. She starts off by saying “Imagine your husband works away from home with little chance to visit you”. This is benefit for people who use mobile phones. It’s easier for the husband to stay in contact with the wife when they don’t get to see each other as often. This is good for anyone as they can keep connected to their families abroad. This is socially sustainable as people can be attached to their families with more ease. This is advantage for a mobile phone is really interesting as a report by the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14465546) say that mobile phones could help police investigation against rioters. The riots in the summer in the UK is said to be coordinate via friends using a mobile phone. However BBC reports that “Investigators can apply to see the contents of text and instant messages, as well as their location”. This indicates that mobile phones are helping police to inspect criminal activity. The police can help keep the country safe by gathering criminals with the help of mobile phones. This is socially sustainable as mobile phones are helping keep the society safe. Mobile phones help businesses as they can distribute mobiles to their employees which can be used for sending emails or conference calls. This helps the business connect well with its employees. This is socially sustainable as the employees are associated to the business at all times.
Apps can be purchased for gaming, maps or utilities. This usually done over the mobile internet however in most Asian countries like India the GPRS is not strong meaning very slow. So people come to shops like “Mobiworld” to buy apps offline. This is great for customers wanting apps downloaded without the use of the internet. Also this is creating an employment for the people in India selling apps offline. More people have access to mobiles than to a landline in Africa as fixed telephone lines are expensive whereas mobiles are cheaper. Mobiles are cheaper because the infrastructure is less expensive as you don’t have to build line for the telephone. This was also quoted in the same article. This is good for mobile users in LEDCs as they can have a cheaper way of communication as they don’t need to build the rather expensive infrastructure for the telephone line. This is economically sustainable as mobile phones are cheaper than fixed line phones. In the same article, mobile phones gave another form of employment. “In Kwa Phake in South Africa; a hairdresser had set up a sideline renting out access to a car battery”. This is good as it gives the workers in South Africa another form of income. This indicates how mobile phones are helping people to gain work and employment. This is good for the workers of South Africa as they can gain extra cash on top of their normal work to provide shelter and food for the families of these people in South Africa. This is economically sustainable as there’s another form of employment in the country for them to make money on. Another positive, I found out from the article was that mobile costs are cheaper than bus fares. In the article respondents to the surveyed and compared the call costs and cost in money and time of a round-trip bus journey into town. This is good as it means mobile phones are easier as well as cheaper to buyer. This is good for people in LEDCs who have low amounts of wealth as they can buy a mobile phone. There are newsagents and little shops in markets selling pre-paid phone cards. This is another source of employment that mobile phone brings for people. These pre-paid cards are sold all over the country providing work in LEDCs and MEDCS. This is economically sustainable as mobile phones are providing work for people.
Nokia, one of the leading mobile companies selling mobile phones are trying to make mobile phones as sustainable for the future. ”In 2007 we first introduced renewable materials with the Nokia 3110 Evolve, with 50% of its cover made from bio plastics”. This is good as this means the materials used are better for the environment. 50% more bio plastic meaning it’s environmentally friendly as the Bio plastics made from natural materials such as corn starch. This is good for nokia’s reputation as a eco-friendly mobile company. Also it helps the planet as the mobile phones will be more bio-degradable. This in addition also helping us buy phones which have materials which are good for the environment. This positive is environmentally positive as it’s as the materials are better for the world. Bio plastics can be recycled meaning 50% of the materials can be recycled. “100% of the materials in Nokia devices can be used again and again to make new products or generate energy”. Nokia is using materials that can be used again for new products or for energy. This is good as when a Nokia is recycled; nothing is wasted but in fact used for other products or to generate energy. This is environmentally friendly for the planet. Also the users of Nokia are in peace knowing there phone is going to be used in a eco-friendly way at the end of its product life. This is environmentally sustainable as using recycled materials is good for the environment. There are companies like envirofone. They recycle your old phones and give you the value of your old phone. This is good for the mobile users as they can recycle and gain money which could go to their possible next phone. Also it’s good for Envirofone as they can sell the materials that can be reused for other products. Overall it’s good for the environment as the mobile phones are recycled meaning this is environmentally sustainable.

I did primary research in what people do with their old phones and the research Cleary shows that over half the people use mobile recycling websites like envirofone.
Arab springs have helped people realise the important and how powerful mobile phones can be. “It is also true that mobile phones represented the main tool that provided protesters with the opportunity to spread their voices and share their values with the entire world.” The people of Egypt were able to share what they thought and share to the world. This was because they wanted a change in dictatorship. They shared images and video with the help of the function of a camera. “Not only were the millions of camera phones recording”. People would share these images on phone rapidly with the help of social networking site apps on phones. This has helped people in Egypt to use mobile phones to gain freedom and to get their point across to the world. Mobile phones can be seen as the main device that gave liberty and justice to international information. This is politically sustainable as mobile phones are helping countries gain political freedom. I found information on this issue by using this link: http://credemus.org/images/stories/reports/mobile-phones-and-the-arab-spring.pdf.

Negatives
There are numerous negatives for mobile phones. They cause car accidents when drivers are not paying attention on the road but on their phone. An article stated “Drivers distracted by talking or texting on cell phones killed an estimated 16,000 people from 2001 to 2007”. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/23/us-cellphones-driving-idUSTRE68M53K20100923) This affects car owners, their families and other people travelling on the road. This is socially unsustainable as drivers are putting not only there life’s in danger but the other people on the roads. Riots are another disadvantage to mobile phones. People are creating crime with the help of the mobile phone. This is socially unsustainable for the community as people may fear to go outside in case a riot occurs. This is also economically unsustainable as the council would have to pay for the damages caused by the riots.

I did primary research on when people got their first phone. This graph clearly shows us that most people get
Their phones early.

As mobile phones are very cheap to buy, it’s affordable for the youth to have mobile phones. Although this has meant increase in bullying via the mobile phone. This affects children, teens and parents. This is socially unsustainable for the society of the youth.
In addition to most children having mobile phones, they are forgetting to spell words correctly as the English is abbreviated. This is socially unsustainable as when the children are doing school work or exams they use abbreviations!
Mr Shortis, a former chief examiner for English language A-level at the exam board AQAB, said he had rarely seen textisms used in A-level papers. But examiners had seen them crop up at GCSE. He said: "Between 11 and 16, children often change their language to express their social difference or identity. Using text message abbreviations in exam answers is the verbal equivalent of wearing a hoodie. (http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=2341958)
This is also economically unsustainable as bad English could worsen his future prospects for a good job. There have been many studies done to find correlation between mobile phone and health. Even though there are no evidence of harm linked with using mobile phones. There has been many speculation to their being harm from mobile phone. “The World Health Organization's cancer research agency says mobile phones are "possibly carcinogenic”.” (This quote taken from BBC report on “Mobiles 'may cause brain cancer'”) this affects all mobile users around the globe. This is socially unsustainable as it’s a possibility that mobile phones may cause some kind of harm like brain tumour. No proof that mobile phones are harmful. “Sir William said children under eight should not use mobile phones at all”. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4163003.stm)In) my primary research 5-10 is the age group that bought their phones first. This affects children as they are at more risk than adults as perceived by the article.
Latest mobile phones are very expensive. This economically unsustainable as most people won’t be able to afford it. This affects all mobile users and latest mobile prices are ever rising. Although more people buy contract so they don’t have pay all of the money at once. However this could lead to debt when people go overboard on minutes, texts or internet usage. This impacts all mobile users with contract. This primary research shows more people use the plan contract. This could lead to a spiraling debt due to increase pay monthly contract subscriptions.

Old phones are very expensive to recycle as the high toxicity of electronic waste makes its safe disposal expensive especially in countries with strict environmental regulations. This is economically unsustainable for the world as it probably costs more to recycle than to actually make the phone. So it is sent to LEDCs for example China, They sort out the good parts that can be recycled or reused. The environmental regulations in China are not strict meaning that workers do labour without any health and safety restrictions meaning all the toxic chemicals from the phone damages the health of the Chinese workers. This is environmentally unsustainable as E-waste is gathered which releases harmful toxins which pollutes the world with harmful chemicals as there are weak environmental regulations.