My name is Jordan Culver and I am addicted to my cellular phone.
It really isn’t my fault. It started with a basic Samsung flip phone. It made calls, played Tetris and, to my everlasting joy, sent text messages. The text was a simple form of communication that didn’t require awkward pauses in conversation like a phone call.
I used that flip brick until it literally fell apart. I then upgraded to a T-Mobile Sidekick 3. That phone is what truly got me hooked. Text, Myspace, mobile browsing and that bulky yet nifty design all fed my addiction. Eventually I was so used to the thing I was able to recognize what kind of communication was being sent to me by the way the phone vibrated.
Now it’s a Samsung Vibrant, one of the new, Galaxy S series phones. Facebook, real web, e-mail, Angry Birds and pretty much everything I’ll ever need to know is always in my pocket.
According to the CTIA, the “international association for wireless telecommunications,” a staggering 285 million Americans, or 82 percent of the population, use a cell phone. Those Americans pay $77 billion in subscription fees, with 1.12 trillion minutes of talk time or 6.1 billion minutes per day.
This isn’t including psychos like me with data plans. A data plan is a plan with those words like “3G” and “4G.” We help phone companies make a cool $22 billion.
I’m addicted to my cell phone and proud, because really, what else do I need when it comes to electronics? I’m a huge tech junkie. I love video games (World of Warcraft and Xbox 360) but if you take those away I could survive. Angry Birds and The Impossible Game are two great video games holding my attention and taking up space on my phone… for now.
Television is cool but I can stream that to my phone now. I also enjoy sports talk radio but that’s something else that can go right to my phone.
My phone takes pictures, records videos and soundbites, can double as an alarm or a calculator and would probably make me a grilled cheese if I found a nice way to ask it to do so.
If the world shut down tomorrow and the only things that worked were cell phones, I’m pretty sure 82 percent of the population would be just fine. People know how to walk and text when they can barely walk and chew gum.
Am I saying cell phone addiction is a good thing? It all depends. Could you function without it is the question you must ask. Take away my phone and I’ll still find a way to get things done. I’ll just be a little more grumpy while I do things.
If you’re one of those “students” who can’t get through a western civilization class without your face glued to a screen, you may have an issue or two to deal with. It all depends on how far you take your addiction. My phone makes my life easier, not worth living.