Mobile Phones

Try to describe how and explain why,in the past thirty years,we have moved from a situation where the mobile phone did not exist,upto to today when almost everyone has one and it has become a necessity

This essay will discuss the Mobile phone and look at its origins and analyse how it has evolved over time to become a necessity in the present day. A Mobile Phone or cellular phone is a device that is used to make and receive telephone calls over a radio link over a wide geographical area.It does this by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile Phone operator like MTN,CellZ and Airtel in Zambia.A mobile phone can also connect to a public telephone network i.e Land line.In Zambia,Zamtel provides Land line telephone services. In the early days,communication of speech by radio link was mainly used by the Military using hand and held radio transceivers.These were also used for transmiting radio waves from land to the ship on the seas.

Early communication devices of this nature were bulky and required colossal amount of energy.They also supported only a few simultaneous conversations.Modern day Mobile phone networks are able to accommodate multiple conversations and can also be used for data communication. For many of us, it’s hard to imagine a time before cell phones. Until very recently, most of the people who carried mobile communication devices were people who needed them specifically to perform their jobs people like freight truck drivers and police. Before cell phones, many people used radio telephones for mobile communications.

These were installed in cars, so that people could communicate from construction sites or get much-needed help during emergency situations. Decades ago, a single tower with perhaps two dozen frequencies could control the radio telephone communications for a whole city. Citizens’ band (CB) radios were often used by long-haul truckers and became popular with the general public in the late 1970s. Essentially, a CB radio is a low-power, short-distance transmitter and receiver that is limited to a narrow range of radio frequencies. While most governments regulate which radio frequencies can be used for which purposes, average citizens are allowed to broadcast on the “citizens’ band,” sending their messages out to all CB users within range of the transmission who are listening to the channel.

Ham radio, or amateur radio, is a way of communicating with people around the globe with radio waves. A ham radio can be used for entertainment or public service, though many users are simply hobbyists and technology enthusiasts. With a well-built ham radio and a skilled relay system, operators can talk to friends locally or around the world. They can even communicate with astronauts in space.

Unlike CB operators, ham radio operators do not broadcast to the general public, and there is a set of rules that governs their behavior. Ham radio operators must be licensed, and they communicate to other individuals or in small round-table groups. While it has long been possible to use a ham radio as a mobile communication device, it is sometimes more difficult than using a radiotelephone or a CB radio, since many ham radio antennas are very large and must be mounted onto a vehicle or other stable structure to make transmission possible

John.F.Mitchel,Motorola’s chief of portable communication played a very important role in the advancement and development of handheld mobile phones. For the past thirty years,Mobile phones have evolved a great deal both in shape,design and use.Previously,mobile phones were huge and heavy and didn’t have fancy designs. Mobile phones have a lot of similar features but manufacturers always try to make their Mobile Phones unique by adding extra functions and features to make them attractive to customers.This has lead to brilliant innovations in Mobile Phone advancement over the last 30 years. The common features that Mobile phones have are:

A battery which provides energy for the Phone to function.A keyboard pad or touch screen , screen,basic phone services to allow the user to make calls and send text messages and a SIM Card to allow an account to be activated on a given Cellular network.SIM card stands for Subcriber Indentity Module.This is unique for each subscriber .

In the modern day,Mobile phones have advanced in design and now have extra features and are targeted at specific market segments.Black berry for example has email features and is targeted at Corporate customers who need to access email anywhere away from the confines of their offices. Today.Mobile phones are not just used for speech communication.They are also used to communicate in writing through email and SMS(Short messaging system).Pictures and Video recordings can also be taken using a mobile phone.Mobile phones can also store and play music. The Mobile Phone has been with us now for over 30 years and within the last decade,it has evolved from a simple means of communication to a personal assistant who facilitates our every day life.As of now,we can not imagine a world without a Mobile Phone

.We can communicate with other people using the Mobile Phone in so many ways.We can use speech,email, short messaging system(SMS).We can also use the Mobile Phone to take pictures and play music.Some Moble Phones even have TV’s that enable people to watch their favourite programmes any where they are. People can also issue instructions to the Bank to carry out several transactions on their Bank accounts.Purchase of goods and services is also possible through the Mobile Phone. Thirty years ago,communication was very slow as people relied on writing letters which were later posted through the post Office.

The letters took long to get to the intended recipient as they had to be moved physically from one point to the other.Sometimes the letters got to the destination when the information they carried had even been overtaken by events or just became stale. Another way people communicated was through the Land line telephone.These were very few and people had to move distances to find a Land line phone.

People communicated using the radio and Television.For example,if one had a bereavement,they would give this information to a Radio or TV station to announce to everybody .Sometimes it took long for the receiver to get the information as it depended on factors such as having a Radio or TV or if they did not have,they depended on neighbours. Sometimes they never got the message at all. Telegram was another way of communication 30 years ago.

With the coming of Mobile phones,communication has been made easier,faster and efficient.In the current era,one can communicate very fast.For example if there is an urgent message like a funeral message to inform all relatives or people ,one can call all relatives within a shortest possible time.Alternatively one can send short message (SMS) to all the people concerned within a short time.A classic example is how Zambian Open University communicated to all Students regarding the residential School in Kitwe at the Copperbelt University.

They sent SMS messages to all Students .This was at short notice but everybody received the message and attended the residential School.This goes to show that a Mobile Phone is an effective tool for communication. Cell phones have vastly changed the way we communicate today. A cell phone can be all you need for communicating. From a cell phone you can make calls, text message, BBM message, email, send and receive directions, go on the Internet, buy things, do online banking, listen to music and much more. In that one device you can do everything. There is no longer a need for multiple devices and you can be on the move doing it all.