It’s so amazing how fast technology evolves. I can remember back to the nineties, when pagers and beepers were the hot commodity. By 1990, World Wide Paging had been invented and there were over 22 Million Different Pagers in Use. By 1994, my Senior Year of High School, there were over 66 million almost tripled from four years prior. Just like Sony Walkmans, everyone had one. Of course, just having a pager was not enough. They began to make all kinds of colors and cases, also donning all types of Decorative Art.
In 1987, cell phones were just becoming a popular item and a certain particular cell phone became very popular. Fleet, which later became Nextel Communications was the hottest provider and actually invented a phone with a “Push to Talk” walkie feature. This was especially popular in the Contracting Realm of Employment. In 2005, Nextel merged with another popular carrier Sprint and at this point had over 20 Million Subscribers in the United States alone.
The next big craze was IPODS and Smart Phones. The first smart phone was actually invented by IBM in 1992. Smart phones overtook the cellular media outlet totally by 2013. Even “Regular Cell Phones” are dinosaurs today. Pagers are almost extinct and non existent. The early models just linked phones with PDA’s but today’s phones are equipped with a minimum of a digital camera, portable media players similar to IPods, and even GPS systems. Touchscreen and wifi were the next upgrades allowing users to surf the Internet at virtually any time from virtually anywhere.
In 2007, The IPHONE by Apple was introduced and now all of the Smart Phones are similar to the IPHONE in options. There is the Android, Blackberry, Symbian and many other models. There are also many service carriers with the most popular being Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and Microsoft. These carriers also provide Internet service, while Verizon actually supplies Cable TV. Everything today begins and ends with the cell phone.
It was only ten years ago where I remember having to wait until the next morning to watch the News to see what was going on in with current events. I can also remember purchasing a Daily News every AM to check out all the sports news, statistics, and highlights. Then this phenomenon became ESPN where you could see the sports news every hour. And of course, it then evolved to the “Bottom Line” on ESPN TV where all of the days sports news slides slowly across the screen. It just keeps evolving. Now you have the news or sports at the tip of your finger. They have applications on the phone that allow you up to second scores, statistics, highlights, and even play by play as well as actual simulated games that are in real time. All of these evolutions are incredible and it almost feels like something new comes about daily today.
Along with the social news media and smartphones…today we have taken it to an even further level. In August, 2003, MY SPACE was launched by Justin Timberlake. MySpace was a social media outlet on the Internet with strong music connections. From 2005-2008, MY SPACE was the most visited networking site…even more than Google. However, in 2008 FACE BOOK was created and quickly overtook MY SPACE as the Number One Social Media Outlet.
Facebook has grown to the point where it has become an actual addiction. I myself am relatively new to Facebook, having joined in 2011. However, it’s so easy to get sucked into the hoopla. One thing that is dangerous about Facebook is that it can put a strain on relationships, because of the access to whoever you want…maybe an ex boyfriend or girlfriend or coworker. It also causes a lot of drama regarding many issues.
One good thing about Face Book is that it gives every individual person the right to put whatever they may like to their site as well as control who and how many can see their material. It actually gives an ordinary person the ability to feel special. For example, a buddy of mine calls himself “The Life Coach” and he posts random statuses about life’s different trials, obstacles, etc. but he adds humor and sarcasm to the mix to get more people’s interest. Face Book can be a great tool as well as bad depending on how it is used. In my estimation, many people abuse the site including myself, which dampens its positive affect on society.
In conclusion, the Social Media Network has become the leader of everyone’s everyday lives. Cell Phones are attached at people’s body. At the dinner tables, people are more worried about what may be going on with their phone, a la text messaging, FaceBook, Internet Web, multi media players and music, etc. Believe me, I see this first hand because I am guilty of it. Also, people in record number are on their cell phones at their Place of employment, while working instead of focusing on the task at hand. And the worst aspect of this craze is the amount of people who die behind the wheel or kill others everyday, while using a cell phone and driving. There is so much more research that is being done on this phenomenon and you could write a novel. I am planning on revisiting this topic at a later date and will cover other topics. To Be Continued……
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