2008 Woodie Awards
Students using cell phones as phone books
Charlene V. Drayton
Black College Wire
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Lifestyles and Health
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Society has developed such a dependency on cell phones that many Americans can't imagine life without them.
In a nation of 295,003,346 people, cell-phone subscribers number 173,003,878, according to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, an industry group.
In fact, many students use cell phones not only for safety and convenience, but also for a phone book. For them, it seems that traditional telephone books have gone out along with eight-track players and cassette tapes. Instead of writing down a number, it simply is stored in the cell phone and is just a touch-tone away.
"Paper phone books?" asked Janelle Dunbar, a sophomore television production major at Howard University. "Who uses those anymore? Please, I use my cell phone as a phone book."
However, problems might arise when someone loses or breaks the phone. That person has now lost contact with hundreds of people.
This can be avoided with the use of a Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM card, a removable device in the phone that stores numbers and messages and can be transferred to any phone carried by the cell phone company. However, all companies do not offer this technology. Among those that do are T-Mobile and Cingular.
"I recently broke my phone in half," said John Kennedy, a sophomore print journalism major at Howard who is a Cingular customer. "The only thing that saved my life was my SIM card. I can change phones and still keep all of my numbers."
Kennedy might not have been so lucky had he lost his cell phone altogether.
"I had a SIM card, but my phone was stolen, so it didn't do me any good," said Amanda Nembhard, sophomore broadcast journalism major. She said she was annoyed because she had lost all of her numbers. "I had to start collecting numbers all over again."
Then there are those whose cell phone company does not carry phones with SIM cards. They are at constant risk of losing all their numbers if their phone were to break.
In a nation of 295,003,346 people, cell-phone subscribers number 173,003,878, according to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, an industry group.
In fact, many students use cell phones not only for safety and convenience, but also for a phone book. For them, it seems that traditional telephone books have gone out along with eight-track players and cassette tapes. Instead of writing down a number, it simply is stored in the cell phone and is just a touch-tone away.
"Paper phone books?" asked Janelle Dunbar, a sophomore television production major at Howard University. "Who uses those anymore? Please, I use my cell phone as a phone book."
However, problems might arise when someone loses or breaks the phone. That person has now lost contact with hundreds of people.
This can be avoided with the use of a Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM card, a removable device in the phone that stores numbers and messages and can be transferred to any phone carried by the cell phone company. However, all companies do not offer this technology. Among those that do are T-Mobile and Cingular.
"I recently broke my phone in half," said John Kennedy, a sophomore print journalism major at Howard who is a Cingular customer. "The only thing that saved my life was my SIM card. I can change phones and still keep all of my numbers."
Kennedy might not have been so lucky had he lost his cell phone altogether.
"I had a SIM card, but my phone was stolen, so it didn't do me any good," said Amanda Nembhard, sophomore broadcast journalism major. She said she was annoyed because she had lost all of her numbers. "I had to start collecting numbers all over again."
Then there are those whose cell phone company does not carry phones with SIM cards. They are at constant risk of losing all their numbers if their phone were to break.