Manuel Castells write in his essay, “A Mobile Network Society”, that cell phones were once used as a substitution “for the fixed-line phone when people were on the move” but now it is used to keep us connected to the network constantly (304). The main reason why cell phones were made have been overlooked due to all the technological advances that people have made and due to this, cell phones are now known for their quickness and effectiveness to get connected to the mobile web.
Constantly being connected to this other world outside of the “real” world, as in the people physically around you, disconnects us from what is right in front of us. Everyday, people are always looking at their cell phones, texting, going on facebook, etc. People usually feel more comfortable when talking behind a computer or a phone and this allows people to get more acquainted with each other. “Wireless communication considerably enhances the choice of interlocutors, and the intensity and density of interaction” (305).
Castells says that wireless communication blurs “spatial contexts and time frames” (305). I feel like what he means is that when people start doing things on their phones and getting sucked into the wireless community, it takes us away from what’s around us. For example, when I am texting in class, I do not hear anything the teacher is saying because I’m in my own world and space is blurred because I am no longer in the classroom; physically I am, but mentally I am not. Another example is how time is blurred. It used to be that work was during the day and had a set time and when we got home, it would be time for our family and ourselves. Now, people are given cell phones at their jobs so that they can be contacted anytime of the day. This, therefore, blurs time in a sense that cell phones allow us to be connected to everyone at all times.
Cell phones have become more than a necessity, but a want. There are good and bad points to having a cell phone. None can deny that it has improved lives and changed them as well.
