Survey Says Americans Hate to Love Mobiles

A recent survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston studied a list of consumer inventions that Americans love to hate. The survey found that cell phones topped the list; this despite their ever-growing popularity. The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index found that 30 percent of those surveyed love to hate cell phones but can't live without them. In response to the survey?s results, Lemelson Center Director Merton C. Flemings says, ?The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing, and I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside of that is that you sometimes want to be alone. (Source: AP)

In the index, the cell phone actually narrowly beat the alarm clock and the television. Ok... so the hate for the alarm clock I most certainly undestand at 7am when my brain purposefully tries to work the screeching sound into yet another dream and repeatedly fails. I must say that cell phone beating alarm clock is only close in my book because my cell phone IS my alarm clock actually... and many other things. I wonder if that is one of the reasons why its so prevalently hated and loved at the same time?

Seriously though... Merton Fleming's comment is thought fodder. Yes the cell phone is positive because it is bringin poeple together. Actually I think its even more - it creates a sense of belonging, a current indicator of other's interest in yourself. Yet there are many side-effects. The cell phone has associated a phone number with a person, when landlines used to associate a phone number with a place. So when you called a place you weren't necessarily going to find the person there and that was expected. Now when you call the person you certainly expect to hear them, and at the very least to be able to leave them a message, expecting some action in return. This level of expectation may produce quite a bit of pressure to be present and to respond, unlike the earlier landline system. So the sentiment of "sometimes you want to be alone" isn't so far reaching. The pressure to be present is a new one - the pressure to be available, to report one's location when asked (where are you, being the most commonly asked quesiton in a cell phone conversation). A cell phone has become a leash and a location beacon, and my sense of well being generally depends on it... what a frightening world :)