Mobile Devices and Convenience Essay

Advancement of mobile devices technology

Mobile devices permit people to access data from any place. James (2005) defines mobile devices “…also known as a cell phone device, handheld device, handheld computer, and palmtop or simply handheld…as a pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard.” As the definition implies, mobile devices do not make use of landlines. Rather they employ frequencies transmitted through the help of cellular towers. The cellular towers permit connectivity between two remote mobile devices. Motorola inc. developed the first mobile phone, which relies on analog service for its operation. Since then the mobile phone industry has grown into a big market as it is today. “In 2004, the mobile phone installed base in the entire world industry reached 1.5 billion” (Becker, 2010). Mobile devices appear in several categories. The first group constitutes mobile computers, which encompass ultra-mobile PC, Graphing calculators, notebooks, handheld PC and personal digital assistants. Handheld game consoles comprise the second group. The third classification constitutes media recorders, which house digital video cameras, digital audio recorders, and digital still cameras. Portable media players and e-book readers make up the fourth group while communication devices such as mobile phones, pagers, and cordless telephones form the fifth group. The sixth group is comprised of personal navigation devices. The rest of the other mobile devices are broadly stacked on one group under the name ‘other accessories’.

Mobile devices have a high dependence on a common platform for their operation. Mobile device management (MDM) provides a protocol on which distributes the setting configurations for mobile devices to cell phones, PDAs and laptops. An ideal MDM should depict compatibility with any other device provided they share similar operating components. Further, such a device should serve more than one task at ago. “Can be implemented directly over the air targeting specific devices as necessary…able to deploy next-generation hardware, operating platforms and applications quickly…allowing addition or removal of devices from the system as necessary to ensure optimum network efficiency and security” (Chiang, 1989). Mobile devices that fulfill such requirements provide the merit of functionality optimization, mobile network security with the consequence of the reduction in costs associated with downtimes while not negating the privilege of reduced general costs of the system maintenance. The emergence of mobile devices carries with it many benefits to any person who owns such a device. These benefits range from banking to security despite a few repercussions that the people suffer as a result.

Pros of mobile devices and convenience

Initially, family members felt separated from one another: parents from their kids, husbands from their wives, and brothers from their sisters especially for cases where they stayed in different locations. As a result, all of them felt insecure and uncomfortable as none could tell the progress of the others. The availability of mobile devices came as a solution appreciated by everyone. In fact, Peters (2011) observes, “You can be in touch with your children, and know their whereabouts…Your kids can reach you in the event of an emergency, and vice versa.” The end of the 20^th century and in particular 1980s saw the rapid growth of mobile devices technology. To date they stand out as the best-rated devices that people who are finding a need to embrace flexibility in communication options employ. The merits of mobile devices have completely found subtle gaps to bridge the way people communicate and conduct businesses. Amongst the many advantages of mobile devices and convenience, include mobile banking.

Mobile banking

Portable banking expertise authorizes people and businesses to contact banking services using SMS and the GPRS among others, all of which operate on similar phones. “The solution provides a secure, multi-lingual channel for banks to innovate by easily deploying new services with improved time to market. The end-user experience thus created is richer and truly convenient” (Silver, 2006). The customers encounter opportunities to enjoy the advantage of making quick and informed decisions regarding banking services. The mobile devices provide sets of tools for financial management, which have particular merit of performing both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The ability of the mobile devices banking tools to enable the end-users to have the capacity to choose and compare deferring financial products fosters the reception of their deployment in the banking industry. On the other hand, banks celebrate the benefits of cost savings. “The solution presents banks with the advantages of reduced integration by leveraging common interface messages, maintenance, and deployment costs” (Leverton, 2011). According to Fenech and Jones (2001), “this translates into significant cost savings without banks having to compromise on features or the range of devices supported…inherently independent of the network service provider, obviating the need to build a business model that involves costs and profits sharing with them.” The fact that the benefits of mobile banking technology are multifold from both the customers extreme and that of the banks, translates to Utilizing mobile devices in banking as truly the best strategy that banks can adopt. Consequently, the banks anticipate enjoying innovations, benefits of client value and robust security of their financial management systems.

Call rate reduction

Mobile devices have resulted in the reduction of long-distance calls rates due to the existence of competition amongst their connectivity services providers. The evolution of mobile technology has also served to benefit people who opted not to embrace the technology. The costs associated with making transfers of home-based telephone devices reduce immensely due to the notion that it has provided people with a way of maintaining the portability of their lives: they simply carry with them the mobile devices and can be able to access information quickly at short notice.

Safety and Security

Capitalizing on the benefits of reduced size of mobile gadgets has not only reduced the production costs for the manufacturers but also fostered the security of the devices. For instance, the mobile phones manufactured nowadays allow people to carry them in their pockets based on their weight and size. Consequently, the device proves not only convenient to carry but also secure and safe. However, many people hold varying perceptions on the importance of safety and security such as “Overall, productivity and convenience benefits are paramount to more users compared to other fundamental benefits, such as safety and security or style and status” (James, 2005). Nevertheless, mobile devices provide security and safety. The only thing that is different is the relativity of the value of the noble merit of the mobiles device as compared to the other benefits of the products.

Status

Mobile devices come in great variety suitable for people with different regards to social status aspirations. Thompson (2005) believes that “The imperatives of style- and status-conscious mobile phone users are more numerous than other types of users – overall, style and status seekers want the latest devices with new features and services.” The level of innovativeness in mobile devices and convenience enables the desires of status seekers to be realized and delivered to them.

Cons of mobile devices and convenience

Despite the many advantages of mobile devices and convenience emanating as a result of their integration into people’s day-to-day use, they have shown a few disadvantages.

Driving

A good number of the accidents recorded all over the world, have their cause attributed to the issue of technology and in particular the abuse of mobile devices while driving by drivers. By 2009, twelve states in the US had prohibited texting with five of them banning making calls while driving for the case of the public. By the end of the same year, 18 states prohibited mobile use amongst school drivers based on its direct relationship with the number of accidents recorded.

Isolation

Mobile phones have resulted in total integration. People cannot hide from their bosses, friends, and members of their families as long as their phones are on. Turning off the ringer does not prevent the callers from having a feel of your voice or prevent the entry of messages into your phone.

Distraction

Mobile phones ring even in situations where silence is paramount like in theaters, concerts, and libraries among others. Lee and Jih (2005) noted, “Ringing of mobile phones happens despite signs and verbal requests…the glow of cell phone screens from text messages can annoy and distract people in the darkness of a theater.” Due to overdependence of the use of mobiles phones because of the convenience they give, people have a tendency of failing to honor certain rules governing mobile usage in some restricted areas.

Health

Mobile phones emit low frequencies of RF radiations, which have the capacity to damage small tissues, which do not have adequate blood flow to conduct away such heat emanating from the radiations. Based on people’s insinuations, “…cell phones might cause cancer, headaches, sleep problems, and memory loss” (Goldberg, 1993). The tissues that are at most risks of damage include tissues in the neighborhood to the tentacles and the eyes.

Conclusion

Based on the expositions made in the paper, the merits of wireless technology seem highly welcomed in the day-to-day lives of people. Despite the challenges of health and the capacity of the mobile phones used to increase road accidents among others, the advantages obtained by embracing the technology are worth it. Extermination of the preference of the convenience features in the mobile devices indicates that “the Willingness to shop with cellular phones was positively associated with easy access to a wide variety of services anytime and anywhere and the cellular phone’s small size and light weight” (Lee and Jih, 2005). The technological advancement of the future will therefore depend on the sophistication of the existing mobile device technologies to slash down the current demerits and increase largely on the merits of mobile devices’ convenience features.

Reference List

Becker, M. (2010). Mobile Marketing for Dummies. New York: For dummies.

Chiang, J. (1989). Health Effects of Environmental Electromagnetic Fields. Journal of Bioelectricity, 8(1), pp 127-131.

Fenech, M., & Jones S. (2001). The Challenge of Convenience: Understanding and Regulating Global Mobile Financial Services. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 12, pp 1-2.

Goldberg, R. (1993). The Cellular Phone Controversy: Real or Contrived? EMF Health Report, 1, pp 19-25.

James, R. (2005). Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: a systematic review of provocation studies. Psychosom Med, 67(2), pp.224-232.

Lee, S & Jih, K. (2005). An Empirical Study of the Convenience of Mobile phones. Journal of Economic and Management, 1(2), pp 163-186.

Leverton, S. (2011). Mobile Phones for Convenience, Communication, and Safety. Web.

Peters, T. (2011). Left to Their Own Devices: The Future of Reference Services on Personal, Portable Information, Communication, and Entertainment Devices. Reference Librarian, 52(1/2), pp.88-97.

Silver, D. (2006). Teach Your Computer to Dance: Make Your Computer, Mobile Devices, And the Internet Perform for You. Los Angeles: Adams Hall Publishing.

Thompson, H. (2005). The Ultimate Guide to the Cell Phone Phenomenon. London: Thames and Hudson.