Buying a cellphone today is not what it used to be. Acquiring such a device meant portability and the ability to make calls outside of one’s home. The only technological specifications that mattered were functionality, good reception, and call quality. Cellphones were big and clunky, but people were just happy to have a way to contact their friends and family at any time. That is certainly not the case anymore. A cellphone is like a mini personal computer that is used for emailing, texting, playing games, checking social media, and sometimes making calls. Purchasing a device requires more than just looking for the best calling quality and it is certainly not easy to choose with the wide array of possible choices.
Tech-savvy individuals might go for an Android that has open source software they can modify and customize. Minimalist design lovers, as well as trend followers, will probably go with an iPhone. Either way, they will end up with a phone that allows them to make calls easily and text, which should be the most important function. If so, then why spend all that money when there are fifty dollar phones that can call and text as well as any of the most expensive devices. Do people really need to be checking their email every five minutes or playing Angry Birds during their lunch break? Is it worth paying ten times more in order to have cute bubbles display your texts or fancy screen savers?
Another issue is the fact that cellphone companies release new improved phones every six months or so. If someone bought their iPhone two months before the launch of the new version, they will be unsatisfied and wish they had the ‘better’ version. In some cases, they will pay the extra money to trade in their phone for a new one, which most of the time is not really worth it. It has become a social problem, the desire to want faster, trendier cellphones (or technology for that matter) the second they are released. And for what? Weren’t cellphones invented just for making calls? If you want a computer buy a laptop, your cellphone should only be used for talking.
Sayra.
Graphic Design Practicum: Spring 2011 
