Happy 40th Birthday Cellphone!
It can be great fun to look back at the early mobile phones and ask the question - how did they do it?
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| Carry them around that is! |
One man who should not be chortled at is Marty Cooper - the man recognised as the inventor of the cell phone (ABC interview here). It was forty years ago that Cooper, pictured recently below, made a phone call from his two kilogram prototype.
Presently, of course, the cellphone is a much smaller, slimmer device, with capabilites far beyond a voice call. Voice, text, internet access and camera are the main ones, with an ever-growing number of applications for navigation, photo editing, banking, games to name just a few.
Cooper's reaction to the current state of mobile phones is that they are overloaded with functions. He points to the fact that often the manual that comes with the device is larger than the device itself. He puts forward a sentiment that: "Good technology is intuitive - the cellphone" (now) "forces you to become an engineer." [BBC Interview with Marty Cooper]
Mobile devices-most often mobile phones that we use have transformative powers. Some social theorists have stated that "mobile devices are reshaping the way we communicate, interact, work and live" (Ruston & Stein 2005, The work of stories).
We are able to be connected all of the time, as illustrated in this opinion piece from author/writer James Norman, which may strike a familiar chord with many of us. In this article, Norman says that he checks his social media 70+ times a day and starts and finishes his days next to his charging device. Mentioned in this article are two applications 'control' and 'empower', that block access to social media sites in particular, or the internet in general, so that one can 'choose' to be more productive and less distracted when necessary.
I think this says something about the level of engagement many have with their mobile devices.
Always on?
Sherry Turkle, psychologist, sociologist and cultural analyst has spent over 15 years studying the effects of technology on social relationships and our relationship with technology. On the website accompanying her book "Always on: why we expect more from technology and less from each other" (2010) is a quote which deftly captures the double-edged nature of constant connection through technology and the possible emotional toll:
"Technology promises to let us do anything from anywhere with anyone. But it also drains us as we try to do everything everywhere. We begin to feel overwhelmed and depleted by the lives technology makes possible. We may be free to work from anywhere, but we are also prone to being lonely everywhere. In a surprising twist, relentless connection leads to a new solitude. We turn to new technology to fill the void,but as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down" (http://alonetogetherbook.com/).
A few years later in a TEDtalk, Turkle emphasises that she is not anti-technology, but cautionary about mistaking constant online interaction for true intimacy with others.
One other theme she raised was the importance of listening to others - and this is the important part - to even listen to the boring bits. Crabblog concurs with this, believing that boredom is a part of life, to be experienced and to learn from. Boredom stretches our boundaries and can encourage creativity and self-reliance. This BBC story on expectations of constant activity for children and how this can impede development of the imagination taps a growing awareness of the need for downtime.
Turkle's (2012) sentiment is echoed after a fashion, by cyborg anthropologist Amber Case. She worries that we are not taking enough time for mental reflection:
“When you have no external input, that is a time when there is a creation of self, when you can do long-term planning, when you can try and figure out who you really are.”
I believe this is a really important concept to consider and one that was not an issue before the ultra-connectedness that technology and social media have brought to our lives.
Neuroscientist Dr. Susan Greenfield proposes that constant stimulation from computer gaming, may keep the brain in an underdeveloped state:
"...what concerns me is that we are perhaps in some cases -- and I'm saying perhaps -- keeping people's developing minds at the stage of the young child of the boom, banger, bang, of the yuk and the wow of the literal what you see is what you get. You're not seeing things in terms of other things, you don't have a notion of the abstract but what's happening is you're living in a literal world of movement but not of thought" [Future Minds - ABC Radio].
Evolution
Technology is pushing ahead relentlessly. One product, soon to be released to the public - or maybe not - due to the amount of controversy that surrounds it, is Google glasses.
The glasses certainly cut out the fumbling around that often goes hand-in-hand with our current mobile devices, but what about.....
Privacy
Here is just one of the spoof clips to be found that take the 'mickey' out of Google's slick and shiny marketing advert. It brings up many legitimate concerns about an environment where, not machines, like CCTV cameras, but people wearing machines, could be recording you by stealth.
One group already has a game plan to resist the challenging capabilities and unknown consequences of Google glasses. Stop The Cyborgs is a group that aims to "stop a future in which privacy is impossible and central control total."
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| Source: Stop the Cyborgs |
All that being said, privacy is already a very real concern and arguably always has been in one form or another. But take a recent example of a self-styled 'citizen journalist', who took a photograph of a crane mechanic working a few buildings away. The 'citizen journalist' had a notion that the crane mechanic was sleeping on the job. He sent the photo to a local radio station, whose host joined in the assumption and this action turned into a news story.
To cut a long story short, the citizen journalist and radio hosts concerns were put to the appropriate union and some quite unfair and unqualified opinions were bandied about.
The upshot was that the crane mechanic was doing his job in the appropriate position, that is, lying down. The radio host was invited up to a great height to observe this, he went, he apologised and now we all know a lot more about crane maintenance than we did before.
This story raised the ire of the crab on a few levels. Firstly, the justification for the concern shown for a man lying down on a ledge next to a crane was that he may have been sleeping. Not that he may have been concussed, or dead - but sleeping on the job. Secondly, the subsequent discussions that then took place over whether or not the mechanic was actually doing his job, showed, in this Crab's opinion, a lack of respect for the individual and his trade. And finally, some questions this story provoked - just because we have the capabilities to take pictures, videos, share and speculate endlessly - should we? In this instance, would a casual observation have been enough? If there was a concern, should it not have been the organisation in charge of the building site, rather than a talk-back radio station that should be called? You can read about this story here and here.
Mobile devices, with camera, messaging and sharing capabilities, make it all too easy to breach another's privacy. After all, we may reasonably expect, in some workplaces, to be observed by our employers, but do we expect this from the general public?
Cyborg
A cyborg is a "merger of human and synthetic components" (Rheingold 2002: 107, Smart mobs: the next social revolution). Perhaps a more user-friendly way of conceptualising a cyborg, is someone with a wearable computer. Google glasses certainly fall into this category. And it is important to note that many of the functionalities of Google glasses have been around for some time, used in medical and military applications, as described in the clip below.
As with most things in life, there are detractors, fence-sitters and enthusiasts. One cyborg enthusiast, is Russian billionaire, Dmitry Itskov.
He has a grand plan with the “ultimate goal" of being able to "transfer a person's mind or consciousness from a living brain into a machine with that person's personality and memories intact. Freed of physical form, the person would exist in a network similar to the Internet and be able to travel at the speed of light all over the planet, or even into space."
He is keen to get this achieved by 2045, and to this end, has written to Ban Ki-Moon to ask him to support a push for his vision. Keen!
Mobile Devices in Developing Countries
Most of this rather long post has been about first world country concerns with mobile technology. News from many developing countries is that mobile telephones are making positive changes to areas that do not have the benefits of landline telephone infrastructure. Through SMS messaging, seriously ill people may be alerted to take medications. Farmers can be competitive, by staying updated on the market price of produce and can now, in some areas, receive a cash transfer by phone for their product.
One Laptop Per Child is a not for profit organisation whose aim is to provide educational materials for the worlds' poorest children. An experiment carried out in whereby solar-charged Motorola Xoom tablets pre-loaded with educational material were dropped in two Ethiopian villages found that children had taught themselves to read without teachers in a matter of weeks.
Mobile Devices for the very young
Children in Australia and in other countries have introduced mini-tablets to their students. Opinion is divided over whether this is a good thing or not.
This blog from a U.S. kindergarten teacher takes us through a typical day and shows how these mobile devices are utilised in this setting. It gives positive support for the use of the devices.
iPads are being used in some Australian kindergartens, with a year-long study recently commenced as to their benefits or not [Article iPad Kindergarten study].
In light of the introduction of mobile devices to children at this level - it would perhaps be wise for all of us to come to grips with what this may mean for our society.
Last word to Marty Cooper...
Since the cell phone's exciting beginnings in 1973, Cooper has not let the grass grow under his feet. He formed a wireless technology and systems company in 1992 that has worked on increasing the coverage and capacity of cell phones and in so doing lowered the costs of use to the consumer. In a BBC interview he said:
"The future of cellular telephony is to make people's lives better - the most important way, in my view, will be the opportunity to revolutionise healthcare."
The physical development of mobile phones which have already downsized considerably from the 'brick': he believes future users will be able to dispense altogether with the device.
"The cellphone in the long range is going to be embedded under your skin behind your ear along with a very powerful computer who is in effect your slave".
