When I was younger, nobody I knew ever had a cellphone of any kind. If you wanted to call someone, you had to use a landline, which usually consisted of a house phone or a pay phone. Back in those days it seemed like we got along just fine without the use of cell phones. I mean, I'm still alive, right?
Fast forward to my high school days in the mid 2000's, and it seemed like most people had a regular cell phone. My family has always been behind on technology, so of course they never jumped on upgrading to the latest technology which was using a portable phone. Pay phones were starting to become more and more scarce. Since I didn't drive during most of my high school experience, I relied on my parents picking me up after I got done with school and practice. They often didn't know exactly what time to pick me up, so I had to call them to let them know.
At my school, they became more and more stingy with allowing students to use the landline they had to call someone. I don't know what the reasoning behind this was, but they became jerks about it and kept telling me to get a cell phone, as if it was that easy.
Nowadays, my family and I all have cell phones, but not one of us has a smartphone. It's crazy because I often have people sending me stuff that can only be accessed with a smartphone, and they are dumbfounded when I tell them I can't receive any of that stuff because of the limitations of my regular phone. "Dude, you need an iphone or Droid man, you got to upgrade!", they tell me. Yeah, okay, it would be nice but I'm stuck until my contract runs out.
Even in college, professors are encouraging people to use their smartphones to look up certain websites while in class. Of course, it seems like I'm the only dummy without one, and people always look at me funny when I tell them I only have a regular cell phone. It's crazy though how expensive it is just to purchase an iphone or droid and then get the data package, yet everyone seems to have one.
My parents have always taught me that having a cell phone is a luxury item that's not needed, but it's becoming clear to me that having not just a cell phone, but a smart phone is becoming more and more necessary in today's society. We use it in many different ways to make our lives easier, and it seems like the fast increase in technology is making it more necessary for us to be connected. Not having a smart phone has made me feel out of the loop, but one day I will finally upgrade, hopefully soon.
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