Why I Have a Cell Phone

Andrew Raff
December 08, 2000

Just as the twentieth century brought the telephone into widespread use, we have seen mobile phones come into ubiquity in the last couple of years. When I spent time in Russia, I was surprised how many Russian mobsters carried around cell phones. When I was in Israel last year after that, I was astounded by the amount of cell phone use. The Israelis seem permanently attached to their phones. In the couple of weeks I was gone, cell phones seemed to become as popular here as they are overseas. For about six months I steadfastly refused to get one. I enjoyed being unreachable. I laughed at those who embarrassed themselves by not remembering to turn their phones off and having them ring at concerts, movies or in class.

Then I started to realize that it would be nice to be in contact at those random times I wasn't before (like walking to the subway.) I could place a quick call to someone to make plans or check up on something. So I broke down and got a mobile phone.

Suddenly, I was in contact. I was calling friends I hadn't spoken with recently in order to use up my extra nights and weekends minutes. I was phoning home more often. I didn't have to worry too badly if I was running late for a meeting. I could find phone numbers and dial them within seconds. Most importantly, I don't feel out of touch. I can be out on the street and be reached. Once you've developed the ability to be in contact, you never want to give it up.

Cell phone world is not a simple utopia. Paying attention to cell phone etiquette is important and frequently overlooked. Just because you can be making a phone call from anywhere at anytime doesn't mean you should. Trying to stay in touch can become an obsession. Having access to communication can be surprisingly addictive. I see people who refuse to turn off their phones trying to have quiet conversations in restaurants or theaters. There are others who insist on yelling into their phones in public places. Part of me feels guilty for being associated with those people. But I still find it tremendously useful.

The mobile phone represents a distinctive shift in communications paradigm. Whereas the traditional phone is location-based, the mobile phone is person-based. Instead of dialing a place, you're calling a person. While I don't expect offices to lose their phone numbers anytime soon, the even more ubiquitous mobile phone will enable many of us to eliminate having to keep track of home, office and mobile numbers by replacing those with a single permanent communication number.

As for the radiation hazards associated with cell phones, I'm sure I've gotten more bad radiation from sitting in front of my computer monitor writing this than in the last few phone conversations I've had. (Of course, this is why an LCD screen makes more sense.) The biggest problem I have with the cell phone is gadget overload. I already have too many gadgets. I don't need yet another with more wires and cases to schlep around. Yet, because I have a relatively simple phone, I can't use it to play games surf the web or track recipes. (That's what my Palm is for.) The mobile phone does one thing and does it well: it keeps me in contact with who I want to be in contact when I want to be in contact with them.

Having my cell phone doesn't force me to stay in contact. Just pressing the power button allows me to become as unreachable as Krikor.

Having thought that I'd never use a cell phone, owning and using one has definitely changed my opinion. While I figured a phone that just did voice and didn't need to be recharged too often was good enough, I'm already planning for my next phone to be something cool, like a Nokia 8890 .

Andrew Raff is becoming overloaded with gadgets