ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MOBILE PHONES

Mobile phones are used all over the world for different purposes. In this essay, we will be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile phones.

Dr Martin Cooper is considered the inventor of the first portable handset and the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone, in April 1973. This portable phone had numerous features never seen before. It revolutionised communication throughout the world.

Below is a picture of the first portable cell phone and its features:

Name: Motorola Dyna-Tac
Size: 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches
Weight: 2.5 pounds
Display: None
Number of Circuit Boards: 30
Talk time: 35 minutes
Recharge Time: 10 hours
Features: Talk, listen, dial

ADVANTAGES

Mobile phones have many advantages. Some of these advantages include:

To call different services in case of an emergency.
To contact people who may not have access to a landline.
To keep in touch with people regardless of where they are.
To send text, picture and video messages for various purposes.
They are getting cheaper.

Many people own mobile phones (see Fig.1) as they have so many advantages. Below is a graph showing the results of a survey in the U.K. The 100 people who took part in this survey were asked, “Do you own a mobile phone?”

Figure 1

In many businesses today mobile phone communication can be vital for the success of the business. For example, before the invention of the mobile phone, customers in urgent need to speak to an employee would have had to leave a message or return another time. However, with mobile phone communication customers ...

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Figure 1

Many people believe that mobile phones cause health problems. This may not be true. A survey that took place in Denmark, suggests that there are no health problems involved with using a mobile phones. The report quotes:

"Mobiles phones are safe to use after all. Despite the scares, a survey of 420,000 Danish mobile users found no evidence that the devices increase cancer risk. It's the biggest and most comprehensive study yet, and according to the American Physical Society, its "rock-solid database make it difficult to take issue with the reports conclusion." The study, published in Today's Journal of the National Cancer Institute, says mobile users are no more likely than anyone else to suffer brain or nervous system cancers, leukaemia or salivary gland tumours."

DISADVANTAGES

As well as having advantages, mobile phones can also have disadvantages. These include:

Radiation through the brain.
Risk of brain cancer.
People trying to contact you outside of business hours.
Employees misusing their mobile phone raise the bill massively.
Memory loss, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
Loss of concentration when using a mobile and driving at the same time.
Phones ringing during a public screening of a film.
Peoples whereabouts are known through satellite tracking of mobile phones.
Mobile phone bills can be extremely high.
Criminals make use of mobile phones.

Phones cause numerous health risks. There are many disputes over these risks. A report from Professor Mild of Sweden suggests that these risks are real. It quotes:

“The most frequently reported symptoms made by users to both their doctors and also to phone manufacturers, is the occurrence of unexplained headaches, ear and eye sight problems, feelings of nausea or dizziness, a tingling sensation on the skin and a numbness or redness to the face and neck.”

A survey of 100 people was done in London (see Fig.2). They were asked the question, “Do you think mobile phones cause health problems?”

Figure 2

Many people suffer from minor health problems after using a mobile phone. This shows just how dangerous they are to human health. A survey of 200 people took place in New York. These were the results.

A significant amount of people in the survey suffered a type of health problem after using a mobile phone. This suggests that mobile phones are not safe.

Many parents are buying mobile phones for their children. However, children have a thinner skull and the radiation from mobile phones to their brains can harm them more than adults. If the brain suffers damage, it is permanent. Parents should therefore consider this before buying mobile phones for their children.

Mobile phones have many advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of this, they are a major breakthrough in communication.

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Ad Son

4th of Oct 2013

Summary This piece of work contains some useful information on the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones. The writer has picked out some good ideas of how they think the technology of mobiles has positive and negative impacts on people. Some suggestions for improvement... 1. More examples need to be provided for the advantages and disadvantages. Most of the advantages seen by some users can be viewed as disadvantages by others. So for example, "Being contactable all the time provided there is a signal" could then be explained in terms of being a disadvantage and then as an advantage. 2. More information about the data collected by surveys - who were the audience, when was the data collected, how was the data collected and what is the best way to present the findings. 3. Balance - there is quite an emphasis on the health implications and this overrides the other points that have been made. If the other points were addressed in as much detail then this would be a very well rounded piece of work. The quality of written communication is generally good although "phone" should really be "telephone" of be preceded by an apostrophe " 'phone". As it stands this is a 3 star piece of work. It is too short to contain a real evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of mobiles but it shows promise.

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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MOBILE PHONES