I am sure you have one..dont we all. The little tiny thing that blinks and stares back at us, that we constantly check we are carrying when we leave for work. The tiny metal box that we whip out at the smallest sound or vibration. We take it out at parties, we show it off to friends, we keep in clean and safe, make sure its charged and insured, make sure its safe to use it when driving, use it to take pictures, listen to music, as a PDA, as a diary, a notebook and in my case as amusement when I am bored.
yes the mobile phone is a part of our lives..and we cant live without one..and i know..yawn yawn, its an old story.
But what I am keen to know is if we ARE slaves to this little ringing bleeping baby that we carry. I know of people who would never part with theirs, it follows them to the bathroom, it keeps them on the email network by being 'available on blackberry'. I also know of people who die to get a new phone, even if the one they own is perfectly fine, and then there is the whole thing about the features it has. I guess my mom is old..and her criteria for a phone is, should ring, and I should be able to see the screen clearly. Hmm! Guess she will be happy with Nokia, Nokia across the world develops products to needs specific to the place. In India, at one time Nokia was contemplating developing a dust proof, water proof variety, which they hoped a truck could drive over without damage.
A recent BBC program showed Sanjeev Bhasker traveling across India, he met a kabari waala (a person who collects old newspapers, bottles, scrap from the house and pays you for it), well this man had two mobile phones. Sanjeev needless to say felt quite upped. It was amazing.
Yes technology has moved, and yes I should not say much as I have a flashy blackberry, but no what I am talking is the ability of the mobile phone to work as a demanding baby, ringing and needing picking up and checking. Also the ability of the phone to act as an indicator of where you are, when, and talking to who, for how long. There is something to be said about a complete lack of privacy. In UK people don't give their mobile numbers, its personal and makes you available at all times to other people. I know of people who put their phones on silent to avoid being disturbed, but then I also know of someone who killed the punch line of a high drama, thriller time film, by naming the culprit of the who-dun-it loudly as he repeated what his friend told him on the phone.
Its bugging. A demanding phone, followed by a loud conversation in a confined space. I really don't want to hear about people's personal lives..and that is the irritating bit, lack of privacy as well as the lack of ability to sit in silence! Thank heavens for mobile phone free train compartments :)where you can cheerily boot out anyone who says 'HHHIIIIIYYYAAAA' on a phone.
