This article is classified "Real"
Mobile, or cellular, phones are telephones that can be carried around
anywhere, as they require no physical connection to any external wires to
work [1]. Communication is enabled by a transmitting and receiving aerial
that can be extended or retracted from the unit itself. This means that
theoretically, it can be used absolutely everywhere. This, however, is not
currently the case.
Many companies boast that they can achieve a massive "95% coverage", which
means that in 5% of the relevant country, the phone will totally fail to do
its job, while in the rest, you have a good chance that it will be perfectly
okay. This is merely listed as a "good chance" because other factors may
render the unit less effective, and this 95% will undoubtedly include a high
percentage of "fuzzy areas" where calls are possible, but for all your
intended co-conversationalist knows, you are a space alien with a bad head
cold.
Where Do People Use Them?
=========================
In recent times, many people have begun to use these phones in public,
taking them everywhere they go: down the road, on the train, in the car,
and even wherever there might already be a telephone. The sight of these
people walking along, or perhaps sitting, holding a medium-sized piece of
plastic to their ear, while they talk away seemingly to themselves, has
led some people to believe that the alien invasion has in fact begun, and
perhaps this can explain these aforementioned "fuzzy areas".
Of course, mobile phone usage is not confined to the outside world of the
public environment! It can be, and also has been, used to good (and bad)
effect in private. The reasons for this are unclear, because it is usually
far easier to obtain a standard telephone, and use that instead, but some
people will use the mobile anyway.
Why Do People Use Them?
=======================
The biggest attraction of some mobile phones can be the fact that many are
now "sold" at amazingly low prices, examples of which are between 4.99 and
14.99 pounds [2], and sometimes even lower. The reasons for this are not
immediately obvious, unless your eyesight is certifiably amazing, and you
can therefore read the tiny "small print" that appears on the adverts,
documentation, and various other associated literature.
The first of the pitfalls comes with the cost of "line rental", and/or the
initial "connection fee". This is likely to be a sizable amount, and an
easy way of reclaiming the actual cost of the phone, which is likely to be
around 150 pounds [3]. It is something that the telephone manufacturers and
telecommunications operators [4] will be very pushy to reclaim, generally to
the point where even buying the phone will commit you to paying this "line
rental" for between one and two years, whether you want it or not.
These contracts are not generally negotiable, and the balance of them will
usually be payable even if you decide to cancel your contract before then.
However, in practice, this is exactly because your contract will state that
you are unable to do so.
Also, the call charges are likely to be much higher than standard phones.
This is another way that money can be reclaimed, and also a way in which
massive profits can be amassed. It explains why some mobile phone company
executives can spend large amounts of time on extraordinary long
lunch-holidays. The actual outgoing call-rate is likely to be more than
double, and perhaps even more than four times, the rate you would expect to
pay normally. Added to which, anybody who wishes to phone you, when you
are on a mobile phone, can expect premium rate charges, which can be up to
(and above) twenty times standard call charges. It is sometimes also the
case that you may also have to pay for incoming calls. This still applies
even if you take the unusual, and stupid, action of placing a call to
somebody's mobile phone when you know it is in the same immediate locality,
and perhaps the same room, as yourself.
It is also accepted, however, that there are currently situations where a
mobile phone is impractical, and that people in those positions may, or may
not, decide not to take them. Examples of this are the 5% areas mentioned
above; the other percentage of the globe that most telecommunications
companies won't cover, ie. the sea; and heavily shielded areas in which the
required signals will be unable to arrive or depart.
Who Are The People Who Use Them?
================================
Generally, the type of people who will use these phones is widely variable,
and cannot be confined to any particular group. It has become a universal
symbol of the freedom to communicate, and "being in there where it is"-ness,
and in some quarters, the essential fashion accessory.
Problems
========
There are, of course, further problems that have recently been associated
with mobile phone usage. Chief among these is the medical issue which
states that prolonged usage of mobile phones can open you to a high risk of
cancer in the brain, and you are therefore encouraged to vary the ear you
use to place the phone against. Also, one of the recently privatised train
companies in the UK has banned the use of mobile phones [5] from certain
carriages at certain times of the day. This has apparently been done to
appease a number of passengers who have complained about the noise of one
person talking to another, albeit one that they can't see or hear. On this
argument, it is only a matter of time, perhaps, before they ban speaking on
these trains entirely.
The Future
==========
It is doubtlessly the case that many of the uses that standard telephone
lines now have, will continue to expand into the realms of the mobile phone
medium. Already it is possible to obtain mobile phone modems and mobile
faxes, which provide you with a virtual travelling office and communications
base, which could prove invaluable in the coming years.
Conclusion
==========
Yes, mobile phones are undoubtedly very useful indeed! Although the
downsides are very discouraging for some people who may otherwise have
acquired one by this point. It is likely that, in future times, prices will
fall, and popularity will grow, as they become a much larger part of life,
and something that many more people will be unable to live without [7].
Of course, once the world is mobile-phone-based, you will never be able
to avoid that inevitable wrong number, those pesky little telephone
salespersons, or in general, the sad truth that you will never ever be
able to get away from the ever increasing hustle and bustle of life and
that on-and-on ring-ring-ringing.
[1] Unless you count the fact that you may have to recharge them once in a
while.
[2] Prices in UK Pounds. These two currently equate to around 7.50 and
22.50 US Dollars and respectively, working on an exchange rate of about
1 UK Pound to 1.50 US Dollars. This has the tendency to fluctuate, and
is probably closer to 1 Pound to 1.65 Dollars right now. Please check
with your local bank, or "Bureau de change."
[3] About 225 US Dollars.
[4] One and the same, usually.
[5] And personal stereos, though strangely for the same reason [6].
[6] Don't ask me.
[7] Many people use this expression, but usually for the wrong reasons.
The mere notion that someone might be unable to live without a certain
brand of washing powder, is laughable in the extreme.