I became the proud owner of a sleek and modern 3G phone recently, not that I want to use, or I need a 3G phone but it was the best offer in a bundled package, so I immediately grabbed the deal.3G allows one to watch TV shows, use internet, listen to music at the click of a button on the phone but those TV shows and internet services come at a premium! It was reported months before that a man actually ‘lived, ate, breathed, slept and talked 3G’ for a month and when the handphone bill for that particular month arrived, he had the shock of his life! His cyberlife on his 3G phone amounted to more than $10,000!
These said, I find we can draw parallels between the evolution of the modern handphones with that of modern man:
I had a ‘dinosaur phone’ the 3310, a 2G phone 3230 and now the recent N series 3G phone (all from Nokia). The 3230 has since failed which prompted me to get a new handphone and surprising after all these years, the 3310 functions as well as before, standing strong and steady while its more modern counterparts with more complicated functions fell prey to malaises, crippling their functions. The same analogy extends to man, the more complicated a man’s lifestyle becomes, the more problems he faces. The simpler the life, the fewer problems one faces (but one cannot get all the way beyond the minimum requirements and possessions to sustain life). This fact is best epitomised in the people of some countries where though they are poor but they are happy.
I do observe however modern equipment including handphones have shorter life spans compared to those of their predecessors. The many varied functions all encompassed in one equipment causing more complications and faults are one reasons I could think of. Another reason could be due to ‘forced obsolesce’ of the equipment by the manufacturers so as to increase their sales and services.
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