The mobile phone has become such a dominant piece of technology that we have become so reliant on. The primary use of a mobile is to make calls and send text messages. However this has changed and developed with evolving technology. The smart phones and iPhones that are available now are so advanced that they allow the user to do multiple tasks which were once limited to other devices such as the television, computer, or MP3 player. This is an example of media convergence where these features have been integrated into the one device. These tasks include accessing the internet, taking photographs, filming and watching movies, and listening to music and radio. The most appealing aspect of having all of these features on the once device is that it is extremely portable and able to be accessed anywhere at any time. As levinson (2009) ponts out that such devices 'make useless places useful.'
However apart from the portability and accessibility of such owning mobile phones there is also a downside of owning one. It seems that it is just expected that if one owns a mobile phone that they 'should' carry it on them 24 hours a day and be available to be contacted at the drop of a hat. This eliminates the time that people once had to themselves in order to escape the world and just relax free of disruption. Of course there is always the option to leave the phone at home or even turn it off on such occasions. But there is still this expectancy of always being available. Going back about five years ago my old Manager would call my mobile, if for some reason or another the phone was turned off and her call had gone unnoticed I would never hear the end of it. There was this expectancy that I was available whenever she felt necessary to call- whether it be at 7am in the morning or 11pm at night. Then there was the friend who felt it necessary to send text messages up to 20 times a day. God forbid if there was a delay in replying to a text, or the text was too brief and not in the 'right' tone. After all with text messaging it is very hard to depict the tone in which things are written. After about the tenth text message and countless interruptions sometimes I felt it would have been much more convenient just to pick up the phone and have a ten minute conversation where things could not be misinterpreted or go unnoticed.
Even now if I miss a call from work (or anyone for that matter) when calling them back I always find myself give a reason as to why I didn't answer their call.... Do I really need to explain why I am not at their beck and call 24 hours a day though??
MISHACHARLIE ACKNOWLEDGES THE USE OF CONTENT:
Levinson, P. 2009 New New Media, Pearson, Boston, Chapter 13 pp 186-191.
In the first paragraph you are talking about the rise of the smart phone. Being at the beck and call of the mobile phone however is a different topic is it not?
ReplyDeleteFive years ago there were few smart phones and none which could do what the phones of today are capable of. I just feel that your post is talking about two different things.