Digital Times

I was gifted my first cell phone in 7th grade. Cingular was the preferred cell phone carrier at the time and new phone had just been released. Apple and Motorola had been working together to create the first phone with iTunes and AIM (AOL instant messenger). They called it the iROKR. She was pearly white and small enough to fit in my pocket. During this time, AIM was the main form of communication amongst teenagers and young adults. iTunes was peaking due to the overwhelming demand of the iPod and the need to fill it with music, videos, and photos. The fact that AIM and iTunes was now portable and available on a cell phone revolutionized the industry.

Now I don’t exactly remember how I convinced my parents to purchase 13 year old me a brand new cell phone for my birthday but I did. The first few days of having my shiny new cell phone were thrilling. I bought song after song to fill my iTunes library and I never signed out of AOL account. My instant messenger account was active at all times; during school, at home, at night when I was supposed to be sleeping, it was always active. Little did I know that I had spent an estimated $700 in data. At the time I was not aware that data cost money since my parents never explained that part to me. I assumed buying the songs I wanted off iTunes was the responsible thing to do rather than relying on LimeWire or another illegal site. Every message I sent on AIM and text messaging was costing money. Unlimited data wasn’t a norm yet and it seemed obnoxious to have that much data for one person. Thus resulting in my parents cancelling my cell phone plan and leaving me phoneless for till the following school year. Then it wasn’t a big deal to be without a phone since its basic use was to place a phone call but things have changed.

Fast forwarding to current time, if one leaves their cell phone at home, it is considered to be an unfortunate circumstance. The thought of not having this object in our hands for a couple hours is empathized amongst our peers. We feel the need to document our life on a daily basis to entertain our audience and we can’t do that if we accidentally leave our phone charging in our bedroom.