By Alex Davis

Is a Cell Phone really that important?  First off, who in here has received or sent a text since getting into this classroom today?  Who in here uses their cell phone as their main mode of communication between family and friends?  Better yet? Does anyone in here even have a landline phone in their room here at college?  This is a perfect example of how our generation has come to rely on cell phones to go about their everyday life

A History Lesson  “Since its invention in the second half of the nineteenth century, the telephone has become part of the everyday lives of billions of people around the world. By the middle of the twentieth century, talking to other people over telephone lines was a well-established way to keep in touch with friends and family, engage in social activities and organizations, and conduct business- at least in richer countries. At the opening of the twenty-first century, the fixed telephone had been officially eclipsed- by its mobile counterpart (Goggin, pg.1).”

A History Lesson, continued…  1983  It was called the DynaTAC (pictured to the right)  nicknamed the “Brick”

1 st Generation Cell Phones

Cell Phone Mobility  Cell Phones have allowed people to be mobile  Teenagers adopted cell phones very quickly  2/3 of teenagers aged are as likely as adults to own their own cell phone

What is the Appeal?  Why does everyone need a cell phone? What is it about these little devices that makes them so special?  The answer is simple: they are Trendy  Cells were once only affordable to the rich and famous  With new models and price reductions, cell phones became readily available to the masses, and soon everyone was jumping on the “Cell Phone Bandwagon”

Express Yourself!!!  “They come with a physical form, but serve as emotional expressions. Like the artist formerly known as Prince, the cell phone is really the ‘device formally known as the cell phone’” as Motorola’s marketing Chief Geoffrey Frost says (Steinbock, pg. 163)

Express Yourself!!! Continued…  Your cell phone can virtually be whatever you want it to be  Customize: phone covers, jewelry, charms and even memory capacity

More than just Communication…  Cell phones are no longer limited to just simple verbal communication  Communicate through text messaging, s and even instant messaging over the Internet

Instant messaging and texting…  QWERTY keypad  This keypad makes it easier to do a lot of texting and surfing the Internet

Taking advantage of technology…  some schools are beginning to take advantage of the devices that they used to consider “nuisances” in the classrooms  Some schools are now allowing students to use their “smart phones” in the  Studies have shown that students liked incorporating their cell phones into their school routines

Moving Forward…  Cell phones have come a long way since their invention over 25 years ago  Who knows what direction will turn in next?  Only time will tell…

THE END…

Works Cited…  Works Cited  Cellular Phone Accessory. 1 July Bling Ring kit Patent Pending, California.  Docksai, Rick. "Teens and cell phones: cell phones can be noisy and distracting. But they can also be an aid to learning.(Society)." The Futurist 43.1 (Jan-Feb 2009): 10(2). Academic OneFile. Gale. Iowa State University Library. 26 Feb  DynaTAC 8000X. 18 Sept Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage.  Girls text messaging on cell phones in classroom R Contemporary Royalty-Free.   Goggin, Gerard. Cell Phone Culture: Mobile Technology in Everyday Life. New York, NY:Routeledge, 2006   Hamill, Lynne, and Lamparo Lasen. Mobile World:Past, Present and Future. United States of America: Springer, 2005   Steinbock, Dan. The Mobile Revolution. London, United Kingdom:Kogan Page Limited,   "text." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Merriam-Webster Online. 26 February <   Unknown. "Hones vs ultra portables; Size's both a plus and minus next to new ultra-mobile PC. IRENE THAM reports." The Straights Times (Singapore) 15 Apr LexisNexis. 23 Feb 