Cell Phones: Health Concerns

Widespread concerns have been raised about the possibility that exposure to the radiofrequency(RF) fields from mobile phones could affect people's health. This has been a topic of many discussions in societies across the world where high levels of cell phone usage occurs. WHO (The World Heath Organization) published a Factsheet entitled "Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Mobile Phones and their Base Stations". WHO investigated whether the RF fields from cell phones cause any harmful health related problems.

The greatest public concern has been that exposure to RF fields causes cancer. Some studies have shown a link between RF exposure with leukaemia and brain tumours. Other health outcomes following RF exposure include: headaches, short-term memory loss, nausea, changes in the central nervous system functions, sleep disturbances, insomnia, rashes of the skin, difficulty concentrating, dizziness and in some cases chromosome changes.

In conclusion to its investigation WHO expressed that the very low exposure levels from cell phones and research results collected, show that there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals cause adverse health effects. We hope that in future this will still be the same conclusion.

Social Networks: The Digital Apartheid…

A social network, as described in each of my previous posts, is an absolutely invaluable development in both corporate and personal life. Not only can a social network connect people across the world, it can also create significant opportunities for growth, both personal and overall advancement.

What about those who are not connected to the “networked” (Marshall) world? Is it possible that the rapid growth of the social network is actually resulting in a world with greater voids between people?

I would suggest that this is most certainly possible… While the social network brings people together, removes spatial boundaries and creates communication possibilities; it also stretches the gap between those who are and those who are not connected.

Certain areas and people are virtually separated from the world around them. They may live only five kilometres away from a major town, with all the communication possibilities imaginable, but still they are more distant than ever before and becoming more so.

The digital divide really is an “apartheid” (New Media Lectures, Dr. Mitchell) with segregation based on the lines of those who have and those who do not have network possibilities. A person only five kilometres from the aforementioned town is essentially segregated due to his/her lack of opportunity to be connected to the vast opportunities of the networked world.

As Marshall suggests, (New Media Cultures, p36) government do not always provide infrastructure for connection on the “utopian ideals of public good” (p.36). Rather, governments are able to manipulate infrastructural development to isolate people from the networked world around them, while making it possible for others to receive all its benefits.

With the advent of this digital divide, the rift between people’s identities can also be said to be widening. I would contend that the modern man is ever more identified and moulded by the technologies available to him. The networked man is essential developing into a new being, while the un-networked individual limps behind in his dust. Soon, varied language will not be the sight of misunderstanding – level of connection may be…

Picture from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/photogalleries/earthquake/images/primary/051011_earthquake1b.jpg

Mike Smith

Music on Tap!

With the development of the I-pod and I-tunes we are now able to buy music on tap so to speak. Music can now be downloaded from the I-tunes store which is found on the internet. Now we can find any type of music at our finger tips from rock to pop to jazz all is a click away. I-tunes has an incredible array of music you can find almost any genre you want. Everything is available.

Now you don’t have to trawl the malls looking at cd store to cd store to find that elusive cd you have been looking for forever. Now it’s available from the comfort of your own home.

People have very different tastes of music and not everyone is a pop-addict that just follows the trends. Now we are able to find the music we like. We don’t have to go from store to store getting odd looks because we are not looking for the latest Britney Spears album.

I-tunes also sells music on a song by song biases so if you only like three of the songs off an album you don’t have to pay the full price anymore. You can purchase the songs you like and that’s all you no longer have to waste money on paying for a whole cd when you only want a few songs. I-tunes are also quicker, easier and less expensive. You don’t have to pay as much as before.

I-tunes has revolutionised the way we purchase music www.apple.com/i-tunes/overview . It has given the consumer the power we now have the ability to chose exactly what we want when we want and how we want. This has made I-tunes the future of music!

Social Network: The new business frontier.

Only two decades ago, e-mail was a foreign term that meant very little to anyone… while the internet was a concept with little to no relevance in anyone’s life.
We have come a long way since the early 90’s. The world in which we live and work today is infiltrated at every level with technological aids. The social network has developed to such an extent that it has given organizations, there customers and employees an interdependency on the technological links it provides.

The intranet is a system based on the same technology as the World Wide Web. The key difference is that it is an internal system, allowing organizations to share work and work collectively on projects regardless of their geographical location. This development, as with most technology, has opened the door to vast development and allowed “collective think” to progress greatly.

As Darwin described it, each succeeding technology “liberates humanity just that much more” (Marshall, p.29). The extranet has been a continuation of the intranet that has granted an organization great freedom in interacting efficiently with their clients and business partners. Its development has aided in the progression of efficiency and cost effective means of communication.

In modern society, the internet is not only used in our everyday private lives, its capabilities have extended to such a large extent that business operation and organizations depend on it. The question is, with these vast networks and the benefits gained from new technology – who is being left out of this ever growing community?

Mike Smith

Cell Phones: Protective devices

What are cell phones used for? They are used to make calls, to listen to music, to surf the internet, for instant messaging, to take photographs. However, their usage is changing. I read an article recently that the U.S government wants to use their citizen’s cell phone connections to alert them of impending terrorist attacks. This adds another element to the list of uses of the cell phone. I believe that it can now be called a device for personal “safety and protection”.

Mobile phone network companies in South Africa such as Vodacom and MTN are also trying to make cell phones “protective” devices. This is being conducted through a service called “Protect-Me” http://www.protect-me.co.za/. It is a personal safety and security service. Protect-me uses your cell phone as a mobile panic button. Once programmed your cell phone will be able to show your location using location based services (LBS) from cell phone network towers. This location is then displayed in the service control room on a computerised mapping system and the endangered person’s location details are sent via SMS to the nearest response unit who proceed to your location to secure your safety. This is invaluable protection for citizen’s living in a country such as South Africa where crime and hijacking occur.

The role of the cell phone as a “protective” device is showing us another social implication that it brings. Not only is it a communications and entertainment device, but it can now be used as a watchdog in modern society.

I-Pods: The death of socialization

With more and more people owning an I-pod these days’ people are becoming less and less social. Public transport is the perfect example of this. When you get on a bus or a train or even a plane no talks to anyone anymore, everybody is listening to their I-pod. Silence and heads turned down focused on one thing the I-pod is the only thing one can see on public transport. No one ever talks to friend or perfect stranger anymore; they just listen to their music and ignore everything else.
Groups of friends will board a train and put their earphones in and listen to their favourite music for the whole trip. They don’t talk to each other discuss things such as what going on with their lives or what’s happening in the world. They just listen. I find this rather sad as making connections with other people widen our points of view and broaden how we relate to others. With the invention of the I-pod we interact less and less with others and we become more involved in our world and not the world at large.
People are slowly moving away from each other and hiding themselves in a word of new media. With the invention of the I-pod and other mp3 players it is easier for people to hide themselves because it has become the norm these days. It is no longer anti-social to sit and listen to music instead of talking to friends or others in general.
Slowly and surely new media and inventions such as the I-pod have helped with the decline of public socialisation before we know it we will not be communicating with anyone except the new media.

Cell phones: The Evolution of Communication, Introduction

From their introduction into human social spheres years ago, to their present condition, one can assume that those who invented the ‘cell phone’ never expected it to evolve into the technological phenomena that it is today.
Yes, the word “phenomena” can be viewed to be extreme in describing this tool of communication, but it is undoubtedly appropriate. The cell phone has become ubiquitous, in that it is widely present in society today.

The main purpose of the cell phone was to enable users to have a more convenient way of communicating with people, thus providing portable telecommunication, or what we call ‘on the go’ communication. However, this has dramatically changed over the years. The cell phone not only provides a means of telecommunication, its ‘technological evolution’ has made it so much more. In its comprehensive list of functions the cell phone now provides its users with: telecommunication; internet connectivity; radio streaming; music playback (similar to that of the I-pod); digital camera features; video recording and reception. They also conduct similar functions to that of the PDA (personal digital assistant). Convergence of different technologies has caused the cellular phone to become a multimedia device. Some mobiles can even be described as ‘smart phones’!

The shift in the services and functions of the cell phone has brought with it several social implications. One implication is that certain groups in society believe they cause “public disturbance” due to their use without the use of correct etiquette. Another social implication of the cell phone is the introduction by governments in forming mobile phone laws which include bans on cell phone usage whilst driving. These bans show how vastly cell phones have penetrated the lives of people and thus that they must be regulated. The cellular phone has provided continuous social connectivity, in that one can now be in touch with friends and loved ones more easily and affordably. We can, send and check our email anytime and anywhere; send a text message via SMS (short message service); use instant messaging or simply make a call. Cell phones are sometimes seen as fashion accessories especially in adolescent circles. It has also been argued that cell phones may have privacy issues as they can gather intimate data about us, to the extent that hackers can find out a great deal about us and our communication channels. They have changed the way people budget and spend their money. Cell phone bills are now included in their budgets, thus having economic implications as well.

The argument above has shown how the mobile phone has penetrated every facet of the social world. Its impact on the way we communicate is just beginning. Years from now this generation will marvel at its unimaginable metamorphosis! The cellular phone…a modern day phenomenon! Is this statement really true or an exaggeration of fact?