MODERN MARVEL MOBILE

From Sampath’s Desk:

 

MODERN MARVEL MOBILE

 MAY 17 

WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION DAY

Almost gone are the days of the landline telephone, which was invented by the Scotland-born Alexander Graham Bell, who mostly lived in the U.S. and Canada.

Alexander Graham Bell (Scotland-born Canadian-American, 1847-1922) invented the telephone and introduced it on 7 March 1876. The first successful call, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you”, was made on 10 March 1876. This event sowed the seed for the telephone (of any type) that was instrumental to the growth of connectivity and communication into a Banyan tree-like structure that we witness today.

 

Charles Bourseul (Belgium-born French national 1829-1912), Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci (Italy - 1808-1889), Johann Philipp Reis (Germany - 1834-1874), and Elisha Gray (America - 1835-1901) have also been credited with the intention of inventing the telephone and made contributions with their spade work, although Bell finally invented and introduced it in its full-fledged form. 

 

National Telephone Day is observed every year on April 25. The day is celebrated to acknowledge the telephone’s pivotal role in transforming communication and its evolution from its early days to the modern marvel of smartphones.

The other day, an elderly person walking on a street mockingly muttered, “What is it that everybody is holding a cell phone close to their ears or through earphones connected to it, chitchatting with someone or listening to or watching something on the mobile screen for a long time?” Though he need not have felt irked by the innocuous activities of others who are used to it with the ubiquitous cell phones now available in different sizes and shapes ruling the roost and calling the shots, his passing reference should be taken as giving vent to his innocuous feeling and not as a curse. However, he had lost sight of the myriad facilities available in the latest versions which are feature-rich. Android phones, smartphones, iPhones, etc., have revolutionized everything under the sky.  These phones are now home and host to many ‘all under one roof’ mind-blowing uses through various Apps proving to be the virtual gateway to the entire world enabling people to use it for many activities with a never-before mind-bogging speed at the same time eliminating the need for our physical movement from one place to another.

Today we have different pieces of basic phones, Android phones, Smartphones, iPhones, etc.

An Android phone has the following features viz. Near Field Communication (NFC), Alternative keyboards, infrared transmission, no-touch control, automation, wireless App downloads, custom home screens, battery swap and storage, widgets, custom ROMs, etc.

In a Smartphone, we have a galaxy of features like a long-lasting battery, warp-speed processing, crystal-clear display, excellent camera, Near Field Communications (NFC), Multiple Windows, plenty of storage space capacity, infrared remote control, fingerprint sensor, and wireless charging.

An iPhone, among other features and facilities available in other phones, has consistency and ease of use, a variety of accessories and the Apple Store, Accessibility and Settings, Microsoft Office 365 Support, fewer unnecessary features, and possibilities of very few security breaches. An iPhone is thus a virtual world in your hands.

While analyzing the positive side, the following points emerge. Let us trace the history of phones. Fixed landline phones, though still in existence, retain their known stability, reliability, and usefulness intact; however, their past glory keeps on dwindling with the advent of wireless communication technologies like GSM and CDMA with many evolving generations. Once a preserve of the elite and rich, the telephone has now become increasingly indispensable common man's essential tool of communication. A telephone traditionally fixed to a particular location is no longer the case. A mobile phone is a technological wonder working in wireless mode on allotted frequencies and bandwidths. 

The modern marvel of mobile hand-set is not just a carry-anytime-anywhere, hassle-free communication tool for its holder, but is also a hi-tech, feature-rich, multi-value-added and personalized/customized services-packed apparatus, giving multi-utility values to its holder. With GPRS, Bluetooth, Apps, Playstore, Galaxy Store and Hangouts available among others, a mobile set today enables Audio, Image and Data communication/transmission at a very high speed ushering in an era of comfort, efficiency and excitement in the connectivity and communication world. Where once longer distances made provisioning of communication progressively more expensive and complicated, like when at first landline phones were in operation, now distances have almost become irrelevant. The mobile segment has been able to leapfrog conventional poor landline infrastructure, involving inhospitable geographical contours and constraints. Ultimately, its all-pervasiveness has shrunk the whole world into a global village. Wherever you are, communication is possible with just a press of the key buttons. One would not have even dreamt of it in the past.

The mobile revolution has networked the people into new lifestyles. It has brought sea changes in our lives at home, the workplace, and elsewhere. Nowadays one need not go to a Public Call Office (PCO) for making a call, which used to be the case decades back, if he/she possesses a mobile. The size and cost of mobile handsets are reducing day by day, as well as their tariff. Cell phones come in compact sizes, designs, and easy-to-operate models. 

With the explosion of bandwidth, mobile services are available at increasingly cheaper rates. This trend continues to redefine telecommunication business priorities, contours, and scenarios, inverting traditional pricing models, creating a new market structure with new players coming into the competitive turf with diverse types of services, transforming operational efficiency, reducing and restructuring tariffs, and introducing new value added services from time to time. The trend changes by the turn of a day.

The buzz of mobile telephony is fast penetrating into rural segments too. Today, a mobile handset is one’s virtual communication companion and partner, and above all, an ideal digital organizer for the user. It is a tool of social engineering, creating a vibrant social and societal environment. Wherever you go, you always stay connected with your home, relatives, friends, and any place(s) you choose to. It also helps maintain privacy in communication. Modern mobile set, being a composite gadget consisting of radio, music player, etc., also entertains and enables you to relax.

On the flip side, the possibility of your being disturbed at odd hours and unwanted commercials hitting your magic mobile may be annoying sometimes. Agents of some products and services disturbing you at times may be a nagging factor. Naughty mischief cannot be ruled out. Unscrupulous elements giving nuisance to gullible persons, especially girls, may be at times a worrisome factor. One has to be very careful when talking on the mobile phone while on the move. Using a cell phone while walking along or crossing busy roads and/or other places may pose a danger. So, one has to be cautious. Talking on a mobile while driving four-wheelers/two-wheelers, even if it were on hands-free mode, may be avoided as far as possible. In crowded suburban trains and buses, different ringing tones blaring simultaneously may be disturbing and also a nuisance. Medical experts have warned that an overdose of mobile talk, keeping the piece close to one’s ears, may be harmful to the ears, brain, nervous system, and tissues of the neck and head, even capable of causing carcinogenicity. Fully recognizing the perilous effects of prolonged use of mobile phones, keeping it close to the ears, the Government has now decided to mention the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) indicating the radio frequency energy emitted by the instrument during conversation and absorbed by the human body. A maximum ceiling SAR of 1.6 watts per kg over a six-minute has been prescribed with a directive to mobile manufacturers to prominently mention the SAR on the instrument so that customers can exercise the option of informed choice at the time of purchase of the mobile instrument. A campaign should also be undertaken on a massive scale, highlighting the ill effects of the use of this wonderful contraption. With all said and done, the use of cell phones is ever on the increase, and there is therefore a need to sensitize people.

To sum up, the merits of cell phones far outweigh the demerits. It is like fire, which can be used for both constructive and destructive purposes. If used effectively, the cell phone is certainly a great boon.

Life in e-age: Erase worries, send evil thoughts and things to Recycle Bin -browse and surf for good lessons, knowledge and experience, save love and affection, upload good things onto others, call divert your problems to God’s Voicemail Box, download your prayers on Him, wait for His ring-tone. Sight the right website for bright insight.  Send SMS (Smile Mixed Service) to all!

  

R.SAMPATH

11/11/2020