Revised Text Wrestling Assignment & Response

“Our Cell Phones, Ourselves” Summary
In, “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves,” author Christine Rosen uses examples to get across her main point which centers on the issues of privacy and courtesy. The article discusses the development of cellular phones through recent history, and how they are most often used. Rosen delves into why most people feel the need to owned and operate a cellular phone. Issues of rudeness and detachment are touched upon throughout the article and it is summed up with a discussion of the effects of cellular phones on society as a whole.
The appearance of the first cellular phone was introduced to the world by the Motorola Company in 1983; it was known as the DynaTAC. The technology of cell phones continued to grow, and in the years following the permeation of cellular phone ownership spread through American Society. According to the article, which sites its information to Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, “There were approximately 340,000 wireless subscribers in the United States in 1985; by 1995, that number had increased to more than 33 million, and by 2003, more than 158 million people in the country had gone wireless.”
People become so dependant on cellular phone ownership and usage due to convenience and safety. Parents feel a need to provide their children with cell phones in an effort to keep track of them and in turn, keep them safe. In the workplace it can increase productivity by allowing employees to check in from the field, as opposed to being forced to find a land line. Not all uses of cell phones are as constructive.
As with all forms of technology, there are unintentional negative consequences. One example of a negative consequence is what Rosen calls, “adulterous behavior.” Before the invention of cellular phones, married couples would generally be able to monitor the calls that their significant other was making or receiving. Cellular phones, especially prepaid cellular phones, provide an untrustworthy spouse with a secret form of communication. While this may be no excuse or even a cause for “adulterous behavior,” it certainly has an effect on its practice.
Another negative consequence of cellular phones is, “withdrawal from public space.” The concept of public space focuses on the public areas one perceives to be a shared area. When one carries on a conversation in a public area, on a cellular phone, they are actually intruding on the public space that is meant to be shared with others. The use of cellular phones in public also signals a sense of social withdrawal. According to the article with information cited to sociological studies, “It (the use of cellular phones) is the intentional removal of oneself from the social situation in public space.”
Rosen sums the article up by discussing the major problem of cellular phone use. The major problem, according to the article, is the “deinstitutionalization of personal bonds.” The more one uses their cell phone in public, the less available they are to communicate with the public. Personal relationships are increasing, but contact with the general public is decreasing.
The article described this lack of contact as an “erosion of the face-to-face community. This problem leads to distrust and anxieties that are at a level of paranoia.
Rosen’s article, “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves,” discusses few positives of cell phone use and ownership, while focusing mainly on the proliferation of cellular phones in society and the negative consequences on the individual and society as a whole.
The subject matter of Rosen’s article proves to be eye opening when viewing the behavior in society. It seems no matter where one may be, there is someone using a cell phone. Whether it is in a workplace, a school, public transportation, or even a church, it seems no place is left sacred. The generation that has grown up with cell phones has become progressively withdrawn from society, and seems to respond to every awkward or uncomfortable situation by using a cell phone to avoid it. While providing a sense of ease to life’s everyday tasks, people are missing out on face to face contact and the chance to meet new people. However convenient cell phones may be, one must stop to consider if the trade off is truly worth it. I, for one, am skeptical.