The Gadol baage or half-a-brick is hardly seen today. Indeed, those of the younger generation might not know what the term means. They might be shocked to know that it was used to refer to mobile phones, on account of size and shape.
Those times where everything was too big to hold is over. Even the world is contacting to the point that today we call it a “global village” because somebody in the USA can visit Asia within a matter of hours or someone flying thousands of miles high in an airplane could let his family know he is fine with just a few fingertip movements. All we need is a few microchips with transmission lines. In other words technology builds closer connections and faster data sharing. In the same way, those humongous gadgets have now transformed into tiny mobiles, highly techie with a few electronic components.
Two decades ago, mobiles were not only rare, but they were called ‘Celltels’, short for ‘cellular telephone’. It was a luxury item. Today, seeing somebody who looks a bit crazy, shaking his body and wagging her hair with a pair of earplugs fixed on ears, who may be skyping or listening to music is so common around bus stops, supermarkets, shopping malls or anywhere else, the word ‘crazy’ might not seem appropriate.
Today there are approximately 5 billion mobile phones with over.08 billion smartphone users. Apple and Android are the most popular in the smartphone market.
Why Smartphones, though?
As the word ‘smart’ indicates, these gadgets know everything or seem to. They will let you install apps of your choice so you can google the entire earth. They allow web browsing, mobile gaming, and social-networking across the world via Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and email. Most of all, they come with high quality cameras so you can shoot and share with friends and family in an instant unlike in a traditional mobile phone.
There’s the flip side though. For many smartphone users they become a piece of junk if and when it takes a longer time to download videos to navigate GPS or tweet pictures. Touch screens may not work at times. Smartphones are quite vulnerable to software attacks and piracy. Such realities might very well make users think of their old Nokia phones with nostalgia and even switch back to them.
Varied technologies and sophisticated designs create new ‘needs’. A Chinese couple, it was reported, actually sold their child to buy a smartphone. That’s obviously an extreme example, but these developments are certainly forcing people to re-assess their value system.
The popular smartphones work with a few speedy and attractive operating systems like Apple, Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread. These systems may differ when comes to performance yet offer equally good benefits. Perhaps a phone is only as smart as its user. Or dumb.
Published on the 15th of December 2013, in The Nation
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