Mobile phones.   A good invention?

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In many respects yes.

In an emergency, how convenient is it now to have a phone to hand. No running around looking for a phone box. Especially when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Priceless if having a mobile phone handy helps save a life.

Texting – hmmmm. Yes there are benefits, you can give your thumb a good workout!

Camera phones - very convenient for taking pictures of those little moments you wouldn’t otherwise catch.

Mp3/Radio functions- Great for when you’re travelling to and from work, small, compact and very convenient to release the boredom of the buses/trains.

However i also see there are a lot of negative aspects to the mobile phones ever increasing functions.

Texting – A huge opt out for people who don’t want to face the truth, speak face to face, or by voice. How easy to send a message – ‘u r dumped’. How easy is it now to have an affair, without your other half finding out. With the ability to delete sent and received messages makes even average Joe the potential to get away with it.

             Compromises our language and spelling. Even some of my colleagues, who are a good few years older then me, consistently ‘text’ spell in their emails, and on contracts which can be viewed by our contractors. How professional? I bet it’s not just where i work either that has this problem.

Even the basic purpose of a mobile phone can kill, if used by idiotic drivers :  whether they are Texting or speaking on the phone whilst driving, they are putting not only their own,  but other peoples lives at risk.

Before mobile phones, people were patient enough to wait till they got home to speak to people. Now there is an urgency to reply/answer straight away, without thinking about the consequences of our actions.

Thinks about this one carefully. I know even some of the most sensible people i know don’t see a problem with letting themselves get distracted by driving.

‘How are you?’ is received by text.

 Why people feel the need to desperately respond to this is beyond me. Do you know why?

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The camera functions are now also being abused with an increasing number of teenagers getting involved in a ‘sex text‘ culture. According to some of the teenagers recently interviewed – they feel pressured into being part of this culture. Taking pictures of private parts of their bodies and in some cases filming each other having intercourse and sharing it with all their friends. Where does this stop. When a paedophile gets hold of it, targeting these vulnerable teenagers/children?

Even the basic radio/mp3 functions can make a person very vulnerable if the user is wearing headphones. Opening themselves up to muggers, who if attack from behind, the user may not hear the approach.

The music function can also be quite annoying if used in a public place, such as public transport, without headphones as it means you then have to sit there and put up with someone elses music blasting out.

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However, I am very aware the technology advances have their uses. We would all still be living in caves otherwise.

Just be aware and don’t make yourself unnecessarily vulnerable.