Can You Live Without Your Mobile Phone?

Mobile phones are no longer a preserve for the elite in society. Almost everyone owns one. They are now part of people’s everyday lives. Life without a mobile phone, for some people, is like life without oxygen; an electrical appliance without electricity; the world without light or a football match without a ball.

The International Telecommunication Union has estimated that about seven billion cellular phone subscriptions would be recorded mid 2013 worldwide. Over 50 million people own mobile phones in Africa. Out of this number, 15 million do not have access to their own television at home.

Mobile phones have shrunk the world into a small village. In the past, people had to queue at post offices to make international calls to friends and relatives abroad. It took days and weeks to travel to family and friends in nearby villages to deliver messages when phones were not in existence. Today, the situation is totally different. Mobile phones have made it possible to connect with people anywhere.

Mobile phones are now sources of news. Almost all the latest phones in town come with internet facility that enables the user to follow news updates, as well as check emails. I remember telling a group of 16 West African journalists at a new media and rights reporting workshop, “With the right phone, some call credits and a good internet connection, a journalist can file an entire video report. In situations where there is no internet connection, we can still rely on our mobile phones to file an entire story in text, send short videos and pictures of abuse of media personnel.”

Cell phones are now more or less computers in your pocket or palm. Some have Microsoft Office suite – MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access – while others have web-based social networking and instant messaging applications such as Myspace, Fring, Skype, Nimbuzz, Twitter and Facebook.

With mobile phones and other electronic devices, you can now automate your house – switching off lights, putting on security alarms and locking house doors right from your phone within certain distances.

In this era of erratic power outages in Ghana, I no longer worry – at least to some extent – when ECG takes off the power without prior notice. Irrespective of where I find myself, I am able to access the Content Management System (CMS) of my company’s website via my Samsung Galaxy phone and I am able to update or publish fresh news on the go.

While researching on this topic, I bumped into this interesting news: The trials and tribulations of searching for the nearest public convenience point have been eliminated in Japan with the launch of mobile phone software guiding users to the nearest lavatories. The ‘Check A Toilet’ programme, created by the software company, Access Co, enables mobile phone users to search for maps highlighting the nearest public lavatory in their locations. Guess what, I have also stumbled upon some information that there is actually a Ghanaian application which enables mobile phone users to easily locate a ‘Waakye’ joint in their neighbourhood. All the ‘Waakye’ lovers, why don’t you pick up your phone and search for this app – No, I am not going to tell you because it is so easy to find and I know you own a phone.

What else did I miss…? Yes! Are you one of those people who lie about your location when you are needed for a meeting?

Think about all the other things you use your phone for and answer this sincerely; can you really live without your mobile phone?