Posted by Syed Shah Rukh Ali Nov 8 - Filed in Arts & Culture - #Merits and Demerits of Cellular Technology - 7 views
Communication is an important aspect of the human nature and has been an integral part of our lives since times pre-historic. It goes back to cave men who would communicate by drawing on the walls of caves. Egyptians were known for carving figurines on the walls which would help them convey their message. Even though it was an effective means of communication it takes specialists today to decode their centuries old message. The process of communication has since evolved as the times changed. Languages came into being, letters were being written. This process was however very time consuming. It would take months at a time to convey a message. The entire concept of communication was revolutionized when, one fine morning, lo and behold, Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish born British scientist/engineer introduced the world to telephones. The invention had several fold advantages. The idea of communicating by merely hitting a few digits felt both bizarre and mesmerizing at the same time. The notion of having to wait for months was now cliché. Communicating with someone sitting on the other side of the world was now a piece of cake. A high pitched sound of tring tring was all it took now.
Evolution still continued and came the time when even telephones became cliché, because, right around the middle of the 70’s, around the globe a new product was introduced. A product that would prove to be both malicious and magnificent in the times to come. The Cell Phones fist invented by Martin Cooper. The very first of the cell phones were simple, large in terms of size, limited battery, hardly any storage memory, had a very limited talk time and not at all sleek or appearance friendly, in short the exact opposite of what we see today. But back then off course they were a huge hit. Everybody was awe struck by the invention. Who didn’t want a mobile telephone, it made the whole deal so much simpler. Being able to answer a phone call on the run solved a lot of problems. There was no longer a worried wife/mother at home, no siblings you couldn’t get through to. All one needed to do was pick up the cell phone and viola there you go. Nobody was too far, no distance that could not be overcome. Nobody was too sick to talk, too frail to walk to the center of the house to answer the phone. This device came as a solution to so many problems.
As time went by cell phones further underwent evolution. They were made in smaller sizes with a longer battery, it was ensured that the technology employed was user friendly. Colors were added to the screen to make it appearance friendly, games were added to the phone, the infamous snake was one of the very first games to be introduced into a mobile phone. Then came the time when cameras were added to the phone and cameras started going out of fashion. This went on till smartphones came along, the turning point in the history of the human civilization. It was this that made the entire world go gaga because amidst us was a device that solved all the problems, briefcases were no longer needed, a smart phone was all in one, computer, internet, phone calls, camera, mails, photo albums, calculators they had all that and offered so much more. Sky was no longer the limit apparently, anybody sitting on the other side world could appear before you in a matter of seconds, news of events happening all across the globe was a tap on the screen away, any information needed did not have to wait because the computer wasn’t available “why I have a cell phone, I don’t need any computer”. The world had shrunk, so to speak.
The magnificent invention obviously came with a very heavy price to pay both literally and figuratively. There lies melancholic humor in the fact that something that was originally intended for improving communication ended up serving the exact opposite purpose. It has turned the world into a safety bubble of hard headed anti socials constantly immersed in their own cocoon, a bunch of caterpillars with no intention of growing their wings and turning into a butterfly, no intentions of growing as an individual, with no intentions in life at all. People ae no longer interested in engaging in meaningful conversations. With a wide range of applications that each new smart phone has to offer, the need to talk to someone has been forgotten and left somewhere far behind. There in an increasing desire to have a better phone then the one sitting next to you. Every new launch introduces a phone that is far more expensive then the last one or slightly more expensive than the one presently in competition. The sad part is that none of the new phones offer anything new. It is literally just a shiny new toy that everybody wants. A fact that no teenager of today’s world wishes to acknowledge. A fact that has rendered a large ratio of today’s young generation mentally incapable of thinking what lies beyond. All these new inventions have us bereft of values and ethics both on a social and a personal level. Along with smart phones came a wave of infatuation, it was every girl and every boy in every nook and corner of the world. This device had given them unnecessary freedom, no reigns held them back, the factitious world they chose to create was theirs to rule and inhabit and thus rightfully so theirs to doom.
It’s not only our ethics and social values that have been challenged and brutally bruised and battered but also our healths. As the number of cell phone users are constantly, there are more and more cellular devices under one single roof then there should be. More devices means more radio waves. Radio waves pose a major threat to health. They have been known to cause diseases like cancer and are also responsible for gene mutation. This goes on to say that while we casually go on with our lives completely oblivious to the gifts we have been, gifts that we take for granted will become something of a matter of concern for the future generations, because gene mutation as we know it, has serious repercussions. Moreover cellular technology has turned a wide variety of people into a bunch of lazy couch potatoes, all the convenience has made it very convenient for obesity and heart diseases to spread like butter on bread. Things took a rather humorous turn for the worse when the phrase “sath jeene marne ki qasmen khayi hayn” became a little too literal and more lovers died because of selfies than heartbreaks’. The rather insane and ludicrous notion of the best selfie had been issuing red alarms and death warrants all around but were payed no heed to as everybody was pre-occupied with their magnificent smartphones! According to a study conducted by the university of MIT 15 people died as a result of a selfie in 2014, the figures rose to 39 in 2015 and 78 in 2016. This according to the MIT staff meant that more human beings were dying as a result selfies as compared to shark attacks.
Cell phones, albeit, a very useful invention have lost their original purpose. It is time for us to stop, look back and think where it all went wrong. Any amendments that are needed must be made in order to set the existing young generation on the right path and to make the world a better place to live in for our future generations.