Current cellphone use in America and future projections

       Think back to your first cellphone. Think about the things you used to do with it. Were you able to access the Internet? Play virtually any game in the world? How about take pictures and videos that had the same resolution as an expensive camera? Well they can now and one group of Americans is taking advantage of the new advances.

The PEW research institution conducted a study on cell phone usage among the age groups 18-29, 30-49,50-64 and 65+. The research proved that young adults ages (19-29) are the most active mobile device users with the highest percentage that text, take pictures, play games and download apps. The chart below shows the percentage use of cell phones across all age groups.

What does this mean for the future of cell phone use in America? All people in the U.S will eventually start to become dependent on their mobile devices. As the older generation pass away the younger generations will grow up savvy to the new technology and develop a greater dependence on smart phone capabilities decreases the vast percentage differences of usage. The world is now a place where young adults depend on their smart phones for things that people never would think of. As an example look at this chart I made based on information the PEW center gathered.

	Had trouble doing something without cell-phone	Used cell-phone to retrieve information quickly when needed	Used cell-phone to provide entertainment
Young Adults (19-29)	42%	64%	70%
Adults	27%	51%	42%

       As you can tell by this graph there is an obvious difference between the dependencies adults have on their mobile devices and the dependency young adults have on their mobile devices. Young adults have grown up with the technological developments of the cell-phone. Children have been taught to depend on them from a young age. According to a study by the Personal Finance Education Group on average children are getting cellphones by age eight. According to the PEW research group the average age kids used to get cell-phones was 12-13 just. This shows that children are now receiving cell-phones about four years before children from past generations.

       The fact that children are receiving cell-phones at a much younger age means a dependency is created even earlier on in their lives. As an adult (30 +) during childhood it was rare to have a cell-phone as a child and smart phones were non-existent. This accounts for the steep increase in cell-phone dependency throughout the years. With the technology of today and the dependency people have developed cell-phones/smart phones are a must have.

In his article “Forecast: More US Mobile Web Users Than PC By 2015”, Greg Sterling analyzes a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) that claims by 2015 more people will access the Internet through mobile devices than through the Internet. The PC will soon become second to smart-phones and other devices such as ipads and tablets.

            The long-term capabilities of cell-phones are still developing. One thing that is clear however is that the U.S will increase its use of cell-phones and become more dependent on the features they provide. The video below gives you a glimpse into what the future holds for cell-phones.

       The future for cell-phones has however been met with one rising concern: The possibility that cell phone use causes cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute there is no viable evidence that using a cell-phone causes cancer. The institute writes on their fact sheet that some studies have been done that show a correlation between cell-phone use and brain cancer but majority of studies conducted do not support the claim. But will people really care when they could be holding a cell-phone like the one below? 

Please answer the three poll questions listed next to this post!

Out With The Old In With The New!

Around the world technology has been progressing for years. The television industry for example has made enormous improvements through the years. The National Television System Committee (NTSC) who also created the first black and white TV set in 1941 also developed the first color TV set in 1953. These systems were based on analog signals, which transmits information through a controlled flow of electrical a current, that allows information to be passed from one medium to the next.

The improvements of HDTV viewing quality go on and on. One of the most noticeable feature is the resolution. An increase in resolution to 1080i, six times greater than that shown on SDTV’s accounts for extremely sharp and detailed images. The pictures are also less blurred and fuzzy with rich colors and smooth motions. On average the information being shown of the screen in 2-5 times more detailed than it has been previously. The first time I watched a show in HD I was shocked at the difference in clarity, which allowed me to see scars along with any imperfection that previously were unnoticeable.

This movie describes other benefits more in depth and gives information on how to switch to HDTV

Another difference between HD and SDTV is bandwith. The realistic look given off on HD TV’s is in part due to bandwith. Greater bandwith means that more information is sent with each image. With current technology such large bandwidths cannot be sent digitally in mass amounts. This is why there continues to be channels that are still broadcasted analogically because they require much smaller amounts of bandwidth that can be processed. However, as technology increases all programs will soon be broadcasted in HD.

Problems that have come up with SDTV such as double images, ghosting, snow (black and white moving dots), multi-path and picture sparkles from impulse noise have been completely eliminated in HDTV systems. The new system is based off of three image component systems, which eliminate degradation of image quality.

Many people have had questions in regards to switching to HD quality TV. You cannot just use an old SDTV and receive the channels you must either buy a converter box but will still result in lower quality TV, or you must buy a new TV with the technology built in. The government is urging the switch not only due to the numerous aesthetic benefits but because it is also a more efficient use of electricity, which results in lower operating costs therefor, ultimately less environmental degradation. To ensure that anyone with a question can get a timely answer the government has set up  a website people are encouraged to visit and that answers common questions and allows you to send in your own.

Information Overload

       Information overload is a topic most people including myself have not paid much attention to. After watching the videos and reading the article on the topic it became clear to me that information overload is a problem. The videos stressed the fact that there is so much information put out by people that is not edited. This means that a lot of the information  is either not accurate or poor quality. There is no type of filter  people are required to use to ensure they are posting quality information. This makes it more difficult for people to get the information they need because not all sources are helpful. 
     Another contributing factor to the increase of information is the decrease in publishing fees. With low production costs it is very easy for people to publish any material and not think twice about it. Ted Koppel stressed that it is the younger generations that will be impacted the most by this surge of information. They will be sifting through billions of pictures videos to find quality information. Everything is recorded and there is a record of it. 
      Koppel identifies one main problem as, by keeping all this information we are doing ourselves a disservice. People will not be able to preserve and notice the information that is important and good quality. Our generations most prized novels, pictures, and articles could be lost in the pool of information. I think that this topic should be addressed at some-point but is not a pressing issue. I do agree with the video that information should be edited in order to provide quality information outlets for the future. The more information out there the more difficult it is to find what you are looking for. 
      If you have to sift through hundreds of articles just to find one that is good quality it is defeating the purpose of quick and easy access to information. In order for this problem to be controlled I think it is most important for people to become aware of the issue. This article How to decrease information overload give some helpful techniques on simple way you yourself can take baby steps to try and help with the issue.