Wednesday, July 19, 2006

AW Blogger Chain, Round Three

I stepped out of the Second Round of the because of personal reasons, but here I am for Round Three. Previously, on Southern Expressions, Andrea wrote a little about technology.

One piece of technology in particular caught my attention: cellular phones. Nowadays we have cameras on our phones, internet on our phones, and some can even record video. And here I thought that a phone was for making a call to someone. Silly me.

I have a small Nokia phone. It's text message capable, but I don't use it. I don't even have my voice mail set up. It's mostly for emergencies, or if I need to call someone while I'm out (at the store, stranded on the side of the road, that sort of thing). It's not attached to my ear or my hip. I don't talk on it while I'm in line at the grocery store, and I think those Nextel walkie talkie things are the work of the Devil. I have a camera for taking pictures and internet on my computer.

This morning I watched a few minutes of an E.R. rerun from way back in season two or three (ah, the George Clooney days). A patient used a cell phone the size of a paperback novel (although not quite as wide), with a pull-out antenna and a flip-out cover. You remember the type. Just like you remember the brick-sized phone that Zack Morris carried around on Saved by the Bell, circa 1993.

As cell phones get smaller and smaller, they become more noticeable in TV reruns and movies. For me, at any rate.

24 is a great example of modern cell phone technology. In season one, Jack Bauer and Company had small flip phones that they actually held up to their ears. By season three, they had those hands-free cords that connects a little earpiece to a mike that hangs by your mouth. Season five (this year) gave Jack the little cordless earpiece. In two years his phone will be the size of a hearing aid, with no handset required. Just wait. I'm calling it now.

And I can't believe I just googled this, but About.com has a long entry about the history of cell phones. In case you're interested.

Next up in the chain, Kappa no He.

10 comments:

Kelly Curtis said...

That is so true! And if you ever watch an 80's movie, the high tech "cordless phones" are a hoot. THey're the size of a mini-cooper.

Wendy Gunderson said...

The first cell phone we had was enormous and it only worked within a very limited zone. It was definitly not something you would use while you were actually driving. Hey, maybe that was a good thing!

Kelly Meding/Kelly Meade said...

No kidding, wendy! I'm glad I live in a state where you can be pulled over for driving while talking on a cell phone.

Kelly Curtis said...

Is there anything Google can't teach us?

Anonymous said...

My brother's first cell phone, back in about 1986, was the size of a brick and nearly as heavy. He was an early early adopter of that technology. Since then, he's also had sat phones (better for rural areas that otherwise have no coverage - think northern Alberta middle of nowhereland) in addition to his teeny tinies. :)

Here in south Asia, text messaging is used a LOT. More people have mobile phones than land lines (land lines are too expensive to install - at least $250 - and hardly anyone can afford that), so cell phone technology has been a huge benefit here.

Anonymous said...

You made me realise that my dream phone is c 1920s. Would it be able to talk to my computer, I wonder?

Peggy K said...

I haven't been tempted by the tiny phones. I'm likely to lose anything that small. I do like text messaging, though. It's great if all you need to say is "pick up a loaf of bread on your way home".

Unknown said...

I think I'll stick to using my shoe phone that I bought from Maxwell Smart Agent 86 - What? Awww darn! Missed it by THAT much.

Great article Kelly. :-)

Andrea Allison said...

I have a prepaid cell phone and I rarely use it because the minutes burn up pretty quickly. So, I pretty much have it for emergencies. Compared to all the other cell phones out there, that's about all it's good for.

Since you were talking about how small they have been getting, I read an article about this girl who swallowed her cell phone. It's not clear as to why. The first explanation was that her boyfriend forced her to and then the next one was that she swallowed it because she thought he was cheating.

It's sad that they are getting so small that you can actually swallow them now.

Anonymous said...

I'm like you- I like my devices specialized; I don't need my phone capturing video or for the net.

As for the older cell phones ha! They certainly are a riot. I always burst out laughing when I see one of those on old shows/reruns looking like boomboxes near people's ears.