The New Age of Communication

The new age of communication

The year is 1987, a young man by the name of Vincent Williams is involved in a car accident on an old highway in the middle of the desert, and he has no way to call for help. The driver of the car he hit is trapped in the smoldering metal which was previously an automobile. There is nothing young Vincent can do to save the driver. He has no cell phone and it will be hours before another car passes. He is left with only two choices; sit and wait or start walking in the direction of the nearest town. If only cell phones were more popular and affordable at the time he may have had one in which he could have called for help and possibly saved the drivers life.

The cell phone dramatically changed the way people communicate on a daily basis. With the popularity of the cell phone in this day and age there not a day that goes by that you either don’t use or see someone use a cell phone. Cell phones and computer have made it an instant world. You can send text messages or instant messaging on a computer and talk with someone thousands of miles away almost instamatics and with out costing you a lot of money either.

I personally have grown up having a cell phone most my teenage years. At first not many people my age had cell phones. They were not color screens and couldn’t take pictures or video. Currently my cell phone can do all of that plus surf the internet, send emails, play music and much more. Lets step back a minute and talk about when I first got a cell phone. I mainly used it to call my mother so she would know what I am doing and where I am at. Then more and more of my friends got cell phones and I was now able to get a hold of them no matter where they where. This was a huge benefit for me since most my friend and I all lived fairly busy lives and where hardly ever home.

The next development was text messaging. Though my first phone could do it it was expensive and not used very often. Now it is inexpensive and a huge part of the way I communicate. Say I'm in a class and I need to ask a friend a question I can text them without disturbing anyone else in the class from learning. I also use texting to ask quick questions when I don’t have the time necessary to call. With text messaging I am also able to have multiple conversations with multiple people simultaneously. This is very convenient when I’m trying to plan an event or find someone to hang out with. I can find out who is working or at home, whether or not they have plans, and also if they would like to get together.

I also use instant messaging on a daily basis. There are many programs such as msn, aim, and yahoo that are used to send messages instantly to others over the internet. I personally use msn and aim. I can talk to my friends that are miles away and I also can multitask. I can talk to many people while looking at the news or listening to music. I can also play games online with friends I don’t get a chance to see in person. It allows multiple people to talk to each other in the same conversation despite their location.

These are a few of the ways cell phones and instant messaging have affected the way I communicate. The advancement in technology allowing us to be able to talk to one another almost anywhere we are has saved many lives. Let’s go back to my story at the beginning. If Vincent would have had a cell phone he could