Cell phone nation

It’s on the train, it’s at corner cafes, it’s at a wedding reception, and now it’s even on a 10 year-old’s birthday list.  It’s the small, portable device that is all the rage and landing in the hands of almost everybody: a cell phone.

In a rainbow of different colors and shaped to the personal tastes of the users, cell phones are used much more these days than just a 20-minute call to California- it’s like a floating device for consumers.  Serving as a security blanket, cell phones became the watch, the e-mails, the calendar, the phonebook and without it, users feel lost and disconnected.

“I have so many watches, but I just use my phone.  I can’t get myself to wear watches, it’s too much work.  Sometimes I use it for the calendar and the alarm, too,” says DePaul student Shaharbano Rizvi.

The cell phone a culture that leaves consumers helpless when it dies and it strips them of almost everything.

“One time, I got lost and my phone died and I was like ‘oh my God, I’m gonna die…’,” Sarah Ghazanfar shares.

Aside from the technological reliance, without these compact tools to fall back on, users fall into complete fear mode, and as if they don’t learn the first time, consumers find themselves in deja vu when their phones die again.  However, users like Caroline Fleege makes sure she won’t be in that situation again.  She says,

“I have broken my iPhone twice in the past year.  It was insured and backed up…there were no major problems.”

Like a nightmarish dream, once again the lack of a cell phone makes the world seem like a darker place.  Not only offering security benefits, cell phones continue to expand like an infectious disease as companies create more and more reasons for consumers to fall deeper into their obsession. 

What can’t a cell phone be used for these days?

With capabilities to play music, surf the web, and give directions, now the cell phone just makes the possibility of loving them more shattering to some.  Wide-eyed, Justin Berteaux says,

“My world would be gone!  I can’t do hours without my phone, let alone a day.”

Dramatic?  Not until it’s you.

Even though cell phones hold such importance to users, at the same time, these products are easily taken for granted.  Users hear of instances of cell phones being lost or broken, but they don’t even flinch.  As if consumed with cell phone arrogance, some don’t like to accept the possibility that it could happen.

However cell phone realists admit to their excessive technological, mental, and emotional dependence on these treasured devices.  As Sarah Ghazanfar shrugs, she says,

“It’s just a way of life and it’s not something I regret.”