Félix Llamosas

Dr. Zepernick

ENGL – 101

23 Mar 2021

Thirty Years of Mobile Phones

Thirty years is a very short period of time, when compared with the time scale of

human history. However, in the last thirty years, technologies have evolved in a

accelerated way, and within these technologies, one that has experienced the most

changes and advances is the technology of mobile phones. When comparing the cell

phones of 1990 with those of 2021, it is possible to see a big difference between them.

Both the mobile phones of thirty years ago and those of today share a similarity,

which can be deduced from the very name of these devices. The word mobile refers to

the ability of these devices to be portable. That is, the users could take them with them

wherever they wanted. This is the defining characteristic of cell phones. This made a big

difference from landlines that were the norm until then.

In 1990 mobile phones were already a great novelty compared to landlines;

however, with respect to them, they practically possessed the same tools. The

telephones were only used for voice calls. For their part, cell phones today offer an

immense variety of tools and applications that would take too long to cite. Among those

applications are others other types of communication, in addition to voice calls, such as

text messages, video calls, social networks and countless applications that can range

from applications with many purposes, such as to checking the weather, playing video

games, getting the news, agendas, exercise routines and many more.

The physical appearance of cell phones is also another feature that changed

considerably if we compare cell phones of the early 1990s with those of today. The first
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ones were quite large. With new technological advances, it was possible to manufacture

new cell phones with smaller sizes. However, the large number of tools and functions

that these mobile phones have, mean that the difference in size is not so pronounced due

to the requirements of the latest ones.

If you compare one of the few tools in common that both types of cell phones

had, calls, you can see a marked difference between their quality. Those of thirty years

ago were much more limited, due to the less developed technology and the little

coverage that existed then, that is way the sound was unclear, noisy and and often

interrupted. In contrast, today's cell phones provide much higher quality calls in terms

of sound and coverage.

At the beginning of the nineties, the use of cell phones was not so widespread

among the population. If the use of landlines was not that common, mobile phones were

a total rarity. Very few people could afford to buy one of these devices, which in

addition to their high price, did not carry many advantages due to their little practicality

and their little extended use. In contrast, cell phones today are considered by too many

people as an indispensable tool in their daily activities. According to the International

Telecommunications Union, an agency dependent on the United Nations specialized in

information and communication technology, in 2017 there were more cell phones than

people in the world (OTI). In addition there is a lot more consumerism, or demand

about cell phones, and that makes the number of cell phones bigger.

Another noticeable difference between today's mobile phones and those of three

decades ago is related to the communication that was provided by them between the

people. In 1990 trying to communicate with another person who was in a distant place

involved a lot of annoyances, it was difficult, so it was not considered a necessity.

However, today, it is impossible to imagine our lives without the constant

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communication we have with the people around us. Thus, our contact with other people

became closer.

Continuing with the differences between mobile phones, we can mention the

impact that each of them had on the economy and consumption. The cell phones of

1990 did not have a great impact on the economy, beyond that with them began the rise

of the companies that manufactured these devicesd. Today the manufacture of mobile

phones represents a fairly considerable group of the economic sector. This in turn has its

effect on the consumption of these goods by the population. Thirty years ago, there was

not much interest in acquiring these artifacts. However, today there is great competition

between different manufacturers with large advertising and marketing campaigns that

have their influence on the consumption habits of the population, so people are trying to

purchase the newest mobile phones each time.

Continuing with the economic aspect, the differences between the cell phones of

the two periods in question can also be seen in the influence that the use of them had in

other economic sectors beyond manufacturing companies and providers of telephone

services. While around 1990 its influence was limited only to these types of companies,

today the widespread use of mobile phones means that many other types of companies

and economic sectors must pay attention and adapt their services to be in accordance

with the present.

Changes in mobile phone technology are constant. We can only try to forecast

what new tools and features these artifacts will possess one, five, ten, or thirty years

from now. Technology advances in a dizzying way. We can also infer that as cell

phones advance, so will their influence on our daily lives, especially in communication

and access to information.

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Bibliography

“En el mundo hay más celulares que humanos”. OTI, retrieved 15 mar 2021 from

https://otitelecom.org/telecomunicaciones/mundo-mas-celulares-humanos/

“Tamaños, precios y funciones: la drástica evolución de los celulares en los últimos 40

años”. Infobae, retrieved 15 mar 2021 from

https://www.infobae.com/tendencias/innovacion/2017/09/06/tamanos-precios-y-

funciones-la-drastica-evolucion-de-los-telefonos-celulares-en-los-ultimos-40-

anos/