Cell Phones Then and Now

One of the technological advancements that have transformed modern communication is cell phones, which have become prevalent in today’s society. Cell phones have existed for more than 30 years and developed to become critical communication devices or tools. Since their inception, cell phones have evolved to become simple communication devices that act as personal assistants in our everyday lives. However, cell phones have continued to evolve over the years and characterized with improvements in order to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness as communication tools. Given the evolution, there are significant differences between cell phones when they were first introduced to today’s cell phones. In this regard, there are some similarities and differences between cell phones when they first came out and today.

One of the differences is that when cell phones first came out, they were too large and cumbersome. Due to their sizes and complexities in carrying around in a purse or pocket, most of the early cell phones were commonly known as car phones (Ray par, 1). Therefore, individuals using cell phones when they first came out would find it difficult to carry out the devices since they were not as portable as today’s cell phones. On the contrary, today’s cell phones are smaller in size and easy to carry around in a purse or pocket. As technology advanced, mobile phone companies started to identify various ways of packaging desired features into smaller, affordable, and portable devices. People using today’s cell phones carry them around because of their small sizes, which differ depending on an individual’s preference.

Secondly, when cell phones first came out, they were incredibly expensive and were not affordable to many people in the society. In the initial years of the inception of mobile phones, they were only affordable to middle- to high-class individuals, which limited their proliferation in the society. On the contrary, modern cell phones are affordable to many individuals in the society regardless of their socioeconomic status. Actually, today’s cell phones are designed in consideration of the differences in people’s socioeconomic status in order to make them affordable to nearly everyone. A person using cell phones in today’s society can easily afford the device and its services such as text messaging and talk time charges. In essence, there are various types of cell phones in today’s society as compared to when they first came out. These differences are in terms of feature, capabilities, and cost unlike in the past when phones were simply communication tools for talking and text messaging.

Third, a person using cell phones when they first came out could only use the device for talking and text messaging. The devices were initially designed for talking and messaging services since they were viewed as verbal and written communication tools. Even when cell phone companies introduced features like voicemail, the main purpose of the device was to facilitate oral communication between individuals. In contrast, a person using cell phones today has a wide range of features that are not limited to verbal and written communication. Today’s cell phones are multimedia devices that incorporate various features like snapping photos, surfing the web, and accessing social media (Fendelman par, 4). In comparison to when cell phones were first introduced, today’s cell phones are used mostly for the additional features over placing calls or text messaging (Ray, 7).