THE debut over the past few days of some smartphone apps specifically intended to provide users with instant info on hurricane Sandy direction, speed and, more crucially, on recommended safety measures, will probably turn the cellular phone into history's unrivalled multi-purpose hand-held device. Throughout the known history of mankind, no other single device has, in the span of less than two decades, witnessed such enhancements as to combine such wonderful and previously unthinkable capabilities of accessing the Internet, developing the social media networks and linking economic activities, in addition to offering mobile communications, data transfer and file sharing. The net result of this watershed transition has been the provision of almost unlimited space for human skills, communicability and instantaneous multi-tasking. As such, smartphones have tremendously shaped many, if not most, of the patterns of human activities from the very much personal through to economic and international exchanges. According to widespread estimates, the number of smartphone users in the world has now exceeded the one billion figure, which means that nearly one sixth of the world population do live, act and react in the cellular-based cyberspace as much as they do in the real, physical world. The figure for the ordinary mobile phone, the non-smart device, stands at nearly twice larger. Noticeably, the difference is as much quantitative, given that ordinary mobiles are used mainly and primarily as a means of voice communication or simply as a more convenient alternative to landline sets. It follows that the vast majority of smartphone users the world over do enjoy real chances of advancing their own lives and getting access to information and knowledge even whilst on the go. Again, these people represent nearly one sixth of the world population and one half of the overall number of mobile phone users. It is, however, a fact of life that no invention is exclusively perfect; and the cellular phone, be it ordinary or smart, is no exception. Since the start of the peak spread of the hand-held device in the nineties of the 20th century, there have been frequent reports suggesting serious health hazards, including brain cancer. And we keep hearing, every now and then, of some suspected links between the use of mobile phones and dangerous diseases though none of these links has been scientifically proven and independently verified beyond doubt. A Wall Street Journal report suggested the other day that cellphones are great for both sharing photos and bacteria. But the cellphone is in no way the only device that we daily use by placing it closely to our ears, mouths and noses-- admittedly the body organs that bacteria prefer mostly to intrude into our bodies. The observation brings forth a question as to why the same accusation was not raised against fixed cable telephony sets. In the world of today, the cellphone has established itself as an indispensable means of social life, so much so that every user gets confused and feels alienated once he/she loses or misplaces the device. Whatever the risks involved, and be they real or suspected, the cellphone, its apps and its almost limitless usages, will remain for the foreseeable future a pre-requisite of life in all societies across the globe.
