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Cell phones: Essential to survival or simply a luxury?
I recently read an article about an initivive being enacted that is going to provide 150 million women with cell phones around the world. The article argues that having a cell phone is essential to security as well as fosters independence. They argue that "It can help with literacy. It can help with health programmes and projects and it's a way of helping women develop small businesses and get financial independence."
Soon every man, woman and child in this world will be connected through technology. Is this a good thing? Does this foster real relationships? Encourage hard work? Create safety and stability? What do you think?
Please also check out my blog post on the subject at http://freendreezy.blogspot.com
Tags: access, africa, business, cell, east, independence, middle, phones, politics, safety, More…
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Starshard0 on -
Definitely a luxury. People seemed to do fine without them only a few short decades ago. They're certainly handy, but you're not going to die without one.
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Permalink Reply by Angie on -
When my wife and I were long distance - 100% essential.
Now? Really, they're a luxur--- actually, no. I do think they are pretty essential. I don't have one, but I do want one. However, I also know how many people use them during an emergency, or while they're out and about and I think anything to do with communication is pretty damn important.
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Permalink Reply by Kate Rowan on -
I decided to opt out of a cell phone, and we just have a landline. Its actually nice, if you dont like geting alot of calls.
And its waaayyyyyy cheaper. Which helps.
Kate
ww.idreamloudly.com
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Permalink Reply by jay. on -
I think having a phone is necessary on occasion(not essential to survival), whether land line or cell phone. But, a phone that has apps for absolutely anything you can think of - that's a ridiculous luxury.
I know we've come a long way with technology, but I don't necessarily think it's been a great thing all around. Life was much more "simple" before.
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Permalink Reply by Meredith on -
I am probably in the minority but I love technology and I think that cell phones are definitely necessary in today's world, at least for some people.
I am 20 and I can barely remember a time when I didn't have a computer (i remember having one when I was five) and so you could say that technology has always been present in my life. I am an avid Blackberry user and basically the only time that you can't contact me is when I'm on an airplane that doesn't have Wi-Fi. Other then that, you can contact me through various email accounts, Facebook, texting, BBM, etc. This doesn't really bother me as much as it should.
I can't imagine life without my Blackberry. It's kind of sad! I do not think that I could easily survive without a Blackberry (or other smart phone) since this is all I have known for a good portion of my life. I think it's essential to have a phone with email on it if you are in college. When you are emailing advisers, the registrar, professors, etc, it is so nice to be able to get their response as soon as they send it, instead of needing to go back to your room to check your email. Is this a life or death situation? No. Does it make my life a billion times easier? Yes. I have friends who will be sitting at lunch wondering if they got a really important email, but they won't know until after their class in a few hours. I don't need to worry about that since the email will come straight to my phone.
I definitely feel safer having a cell phone and being connected. I had a family emergency a few weeks ago and cell phones were crucial for getting us through it. Being away from my family, I like to know that I can always contact them whenever I need to. If I'm at a party and I lose my friends, I just have to text them to find them.
I think it's a little ridiculous that people can contact me 24/7 but I don't mind. If I don't want to respond then I don't have to. Since we have this technology, and I have found ways for it to benefit me, I'm going to take advantage of it.
http://merincashmere.blogspot.com
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