Thesis: Cell phones used to be a viewed as a tool of communication, however it has shifted into a symbol of social status thanks to the American society’s obsession of materiality.
A. Cell phone’s history: their true intent to simplify communication
- General history– Idea began as convenient alternative to pay phones and car phones. In 1973, Martin Cooper and his team at Motorola brought the mobile phone to the world. They were the first company to make the first successful call on their model of this invention. Cooper wished to have a mobile phone that you can walk away from your car with.
- the type of people it targeted– People were astonished, however it was not ready for commercial use just yet. In October of 1983, this cell phone model, the “DynaTAC” costed $3,900. So, it was no surprise that it was not a very common tool used among Americans. It targeted mostly wealthy people with professions that forced them to constantly be on the move; such as, real estate agents and doctors. In a way, owning a cell phone proved that you are wealthy.
B. Society’s former take on cell phones: the way of communication
- Cell phones became popular in the 1990’s, and it was in mass production with many customers at this stage. Although, at first cell phones did symbolize social status, it altered when everyone owned this gadget. It became a major component in the commonplace of communication, and many bonded over the fact that they owned cell phones. It was a new wave of normality to own and use this to call others.
C. American’s new love for material goods
- By the end of the 1990’s there was shift in the American Dream. It went from a small house with a white picket fence to a more lavish lifestyle of upscale houses.”The size of houses has doubled in less than fifty years, there are more second homes, automobiles have become increasingly option-packed, middle-income Americans are doing more pleasure and vacation travel, and expenditures on recreation have more than doubled since 1980.”- New York Times.
- The purchase of multiple homes, multiple cars, and designer clothes significantly increased. The release of Michael Jordan’s shoes pushed a trend for utilizing shoes to display social status. Since the upper class began buying expensive watches, art collections, and overpriced luxury cars; the middle class began acquiring wealthy symbols.
- This is due to the increase of mass production of goods, along with the human psychology of wanting “belonging”. This process is because of human’s need to compare themselves to others, so they began to compare physical symbols, such as these luxury items. This comparison began to arise a new ideology; the idea of personal style. People wanted to be “different”, and this quickly became a commonplace movement for others to belong to.
D. What the cell phone evolved to in modern day
- Mobile phones have altered into a multi-purpose tool. It is used as entertainment, camera, and as a mean of social status. It is not only used as a tool for communicating with others anymore. It has become something people can not live without.
- Cell phones portray certain social statuses by the kind of phone. As demonstrated through the conflict between Samsung users v. Iphone users; the type of phone you have determines which social group you fit into. The user of one phone will argue that their phone is superior than the other.
- Social media on cell phones add another component to this social status The number of followers and likes you have showcase your popularity. The type of photos you post and how you present yourself puts you in specific social groups.