Diffusion Theory: Cell Phones

 The first cell phone was invented in 1973 by Motorola. An employee used it to call New Jersey. The first phone went on sale in America in 1984. As technology advanced, more and more people got cell phones. Early adopters of this include businesses and rich people, as they could afford the high prices of the first cell phones avalible as the first Motorola phone cost almost $4,000.  The phones that became what we know today started popping up in the late 2000s and in 2007 the first iPhone was introduced. 



Some negatives about cell phones is that you pretty much have to have one, they are addictive, and it tracks you. In today's society, it is hard to find someone without a cell phone even if it is just a simple flip phone. Cell phones are also proven to be addictive. A poll found that 50% of teenagers admitted to being addicted to their devices, while 59% of parents thought their children were addicted. A Swiss research study concluded that higher cell phone usage resulted in lower health. Cell phones can be used to track you as various companies have your location data. Even anonymized location data could put a person at risk if a hacker is able to get a hold of it. Companies also sell it for such things like targeted advertising. 



Positive things about cell phones are they are like a computer in your pocket, they relatively small, and you can do everything from paying a credit card bill to looking up directions on them. Compared to the simple phones which could only call and text, our phones we have now are engineering marvels. We have most everything we could think of to need sitting in our back pocket. All in all, the benefits outweigh the costs. There are ways to minimize tracking and you can choose to be on your phone less. You can even get a dumb phone or turn your phone into one that only does essential tasks.  



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