Time for Fewer Cell Phone Features?
It’s happened again — teenager armed with cell phone records two teens engaged in intimate behavior and sends the video to friends. The unsuspecting girl in the incident alerts the police, an investigation begins, and now charges of statutory rape could be in someone’s future.
Let’s blame technology
When the local television station reported the story, the standard implications were made — technology is to blame. The implication is far from the truth. In this case, technology was an enabler for criminal conduct. Someone still had to make the recording and someone still had to send it to friends and classmates. The cell phone didn’t commit the crime, a couple of teenagers did.
If you buy into the idea of “technology is to blame,” then you might call for cell phone manufacturers to take some level of responsibility. Normally I’d roll my eyes to this type of response and chalk it up to technical ignorance. This time, however, my opinion is a little different.
New market for a step backwards
I won’t go so far as to insist that cell phone manufacturers take responsibility, I will say these types of incidents (which are becoming more common place) are creating a new marketplace for cell phones — phones with fewer features.
Yes, smart phones are certainly the source of techno lust for gadgets hounds; however, not everyone wants or needs a cell phone stuffed with a myriad of features. Sometimes people just need to place or receive a call. When it comes to parents that have given their kids a cell phone, they’d probably love to have the option to give them “just a phone.” Yes, kids with “just a phone” could use a digital camera, email account, and Internet access and commit the same crime. The difference is that it requires more steps and more devices readily accessible and most teenagers are simply not that prepared. With the “all-in-one” cell phones so common today, kids have everything they need to commit such a crime with them all the time.
Limiting technology isn’t the complete solution
As much as technology is not to blame for this recent incident, limiting technology wouldn’t have prevented it either. There is no substitute for good parenting and educating kids on proper cell phone use. Nevertheless I’m one parent that would love to see a bare bones cell phone: make a call, receive a call, and address book. Try and find a cell phone that just does that — it’s impossible.
In my opinion, there is a market for a technological step backwards.
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Filed under: Off Topic, Tech Commentary
[...] Original post by TechTraction [...]
i don’t think that fewer features is ever going to come true, if anything i think phones will become even more useful. it’ll be crazy to know what they can do in a few years. portability is going to be realized.
I am a techno junkie and always have coolest cell phone. In reality though, it seems I rarely use all the cool features I paid so much for.
Blame the technologies? I think that this is not the thing we should blame, bout people using it. There is a phrase I have heart form a movie “Romeo must die” - It is just like this: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.
I want a cell phone that I can text and take pictures on. What company in the United States is the cheapest like on the cell phone bill that you pay monthly? Also, I want to know if they have good cell phone plans too.
I purchased a phone 7 years ago and it can only send, receive calls, and can send plain text messages. I think manufacturers should have such phone which can be used for different age groups. There should be standards from governments for different age groups as well. Anyways, at some extent we are responsible also who don’t have control and checks on our kids.
Yes it will be impossible to find a simple phone and I don’t see the market for it anyway. As for blaming technology, well sometimes these types of phones can save lives or solve crimes.
“There is no substitute for good parenting and educating kids on proper cell phone use” I would agree with that and I think parents should take responsiblity for their childs actions.
I agree with Attitude tees’s comment here. I get an upgrade every year to the latest handset but only end up using it for calls and sms whilst still paying a high monthly charge to cover the cost of the handset. I really should go back to basics, but would this not look uncool!
I really like to have a nice mobile phone but I am not a slave to technology. I think that the technology became a right miracle and that the right art if you success resist.