Mobile Technology

I admit I'm one of those people who loves his cell phone. I'm old enough to remember when cell phones were a luxury item. But I'm not so old that I've forgotten when I bought my first cell phone. I was amazed by it at the time. Here's this device that's small enough to fit in a (large) coat pocket and yet with it i can talk to just about anyone, anywhere. And that was about all I could do with it. It didn't play music. It didn't display photos. It didn't even have a color display. And every time I upgrade to a new phone, I'm amazed yet again.

The phones keep getting smaller and yet they also keep having more features. We went from something that was basically an advanced walkie-talkie (isn't that a cool word?) to something that is now basically a mini-pc. In fact, the cell phone I have now is as powerful as my first PC. Actually, in some ways it's more advanced. The internet speeds I get on it are way faster then what I had with dialup on my first PC. The camera it comes with is way better then that first webcam. The teeny tiny microsd card has over double the storage capacity of my first hard drive. About the only thing it doesn't do better is the display. There's only so much you can do with a 2 inch screen after all.

With that first cell phone I went from being able to talk to almost anyone to being able to communicate in almost anyway with anyone. Now I can talk to them or I can send them a text message, or a voice mail, or an email or an instant message or even a video email.

In the palm of my hand I can hold a map of the world, showing me exactly where I am and real time traffic. I can get a satallite view of anyplace on the planet (except Dick Cheney's house) or a street view from almost any major city. Without typing a word I can ask for information for any business and get turn by turn directions to it. In the palm of my hand I have an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, a tv and shopping.

Some people seem to hate cell phones. They think they take away our personal space. I think though that they give us access to so much from anywhere. And they can never intrude on your personal space as long as the off button always works. :)