Cause and effect relationships in academic contexts

¶ … lifetime, human society has seen the emergence of mobile communication technology, in particular the smartphone. This new communications tool has changed the ways that we communicate with each other, for both better and worse. Smartphones not only allow us to have telephone communications when mobile, but they have given rise to the mainstream use of mobile data. This means not only Internet, but things like text messaging have become even more commonplace than they were before.

Many Americans believe that mobile technology has changed the way that they communicate. First, many people report that they communicate more with their friends and family because mobile technology allows them to be in communication all of the time, a significant difference from the days of the hardwire telephone line (Jones, 2014). Increased communication with family and friends has in some cases strengthened bonds. For example, data plans that work nationwide have allowed people to maintain close contact even on opposite sides of the country, whereas before such plans existed there were long distance fees that limited communication.

While there are some criticisms attached to mobile communications -- the breakdown of the English language among them -- these forms of technology have had a transformative effect on many of the everyday things that we take for granted. They make driving more difficult, because they are a distraction, but they also make taking public transportation easier because route maps and schedules are available at your fingertips, and the GPS in smartphones means that you can walk anywhere without getting lost.

Jones (2014) notes that many people report working more away from the office. The constant link that technology provides us has been exploited by our managers and the companies that we work for to act as an electronic tether. Some 68% of Americans believe that they have been asked to do more work outside of regular working hours since the advent of mobile communications -- checking work emails, receiving texts from their boss, and being expected to take work home in the evening.

Yet, there are advantages as well. For example, smartphones are increasingly being used in clinical medicine. Health care practitioners can transmit information more quickly, getting results back from labs more quickly, and being more in contact with patients (Wu, 2010). In fact, given the size of most medical facilities, it is not uncommon for people who work in these facilities to use their devices to be in contact with one another. There are also apps now that can assist health care practitioners. For example, you can have a heart rate monitor attached to you that signals to the device, so if something happens with your heart rate, the device contacts 911 for you. So there are a lot of positive developments from modern mobile telecommunications technology.