31 Smartphones and Cellular Data
Ashton Krol
31.1 Introduction
Keywords:
- Cellular Data- the internet connectivity provided by your mobile network provider. While your phone will automatically switch to Wi-Fi if a network is available, you can manually control your mobile data use by enabling and disabling it.
- Facetime- a proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc.
- Cloud- on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user.
- Social Media- websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
- Understand the cultural and societal impact that iPhones have had on generation Z.
- Describe the differences that smartphones are having on generation Z compared to previous generations.
- Identify the pros and cons of generation Z being raised on the backbone of iPhones and their reliability towards them.
Generation Z may not be the only generation that uses smartphone technology in their day-to-day life; however, they are the first generation to be brought up and raised in a time period in which the iPhone emerged. Generation Z was born into the world with this type of technology and now we are starting to see the effects of this in real-time. Smartphones can offer extremely beneficial uses in today’s society, however, they can quickly turn into a problem for most teens apart of generation Z.
31.2 Cellular Data and Instant Internet Access Anywhere
Key Takeaway
31.2.1 Section 1
Being able to access Google or any other popular search engine to figure out any information on any topic you can possibly imagine has changed the world as we know it. This shortens the time to learn information and gain access to it much quicker and more efficiently. Before the internet, you had to go to the library and access information using an encyclopedia which would be super time-consuming. The invention of the internet has done away with all of this and all you would have to do is access the computer somewhere and look up whatever you may want. However, as technology advances, you can now access the internet anywhere in the world with the invention of the iPhone and its cellular data technologies.
31.2.2 Section 2
Cellular Data has truly made internet access and access to information at any given moment and time, completely possible. Many generations that exist today did not have this type of technology when they were being raised and growing up. For generation Z however, it is a different story. If any teenager has an iPhone, they can search for anything they want at any given time. This is a double-edged sword, however. On one hand, it can be used to help gain knowledge and help students and young people get a better understanding of whatever topic that might be. People can look up information at any given moment at any place on the planet, which can help them significantly. On the other hand, this can become extremely detrimental to a young person’s mind.
31.2.3 Section 3
The internet is home to an abundance of information. As it can help one person, it can be extremely harmful to the next. Before cellular data, it would be much harder for a young person to access harmful information that is on the internet because it was used simply for gaining information on certain educational topics. Now, however, with how easy it is to obtain information and how widespread information is amongst the young minds of generation Z, this has become a massive problem. Their minds are getting exposed to harmful things on the internet at very early ages that can affect their behaviors and ways of thinking. This has been shown to be very detrimental to the human brain and can seriously affect one’s mental health.
Image By PxHere is in the Public Domain CC0
31.3 Facetime and Other Instant Communication Technologies
Key Takeaways
Facetime technology has made humans more connected than ever before.
31.3.1 Section 1
Wireless communication had been around for generations before generation Z also because of the internet and satellite phones. However, the introduction of the smartphone makes for more than just phone calls. You can instantly message someone off of multiple messaging apps from anywhere in the world at any time. One could use Facetime and get live video footage of whoever they are talking to at any point in the world. This rapid increase in these technologies has become increasingly popular among gen z. One can communicate with anyone that they want to at any time. Writing letters and long-form messaging systems are a thing of the past. This allows for ideas to be shared across the globe much more efficiently and much faster than ever before leading to more and more innovation every single day.
31.3.2 Section 2
As Generation Z has grown up with this technology and they have been accustomed to it their whole lifetimes, they are the ones that are most adaptive to this new technology and who take advantage of it most. As texting was popular with millennials, it has been increasingly popular among generation Z due to how much more efficient it has become. Many members of Generation Z have used this to their advantage by networking with people across the world and developing long-distance relationships to stay social. On the other hand, this has led to a strict dependency on these devices to stay in contact with these newfound relationships. Many people believe that these devices are what lead to the disconnect between face-to-face conversations between humans which is essential for human survival. The increase in smartphone usage among the younger generations grows more and more each day and the dependency on these devices will continue to become stronger.
31.4 Camera App and other applications
Key Takeaways
31.4.1 Section 1
The first camera was invented in 1816. Photographs have become a very essential changing point in history to capture moments in real-time and have become utilized by everyone in the world. The evolution of the camera has become quite rapid. First, the camera had to be stationary for a long time to capture something and it took a while. Fast forward almost 200 years, the camera has become so advanced that people can capture any moment via a photograph or video recording instantly. Printed photographs are a thing of the past now and everything is stored on a smartphone’s memory or on the cloud. Maybe people’s childhoods are simply a memory and they have very little photo evidence of past events. However, since generation z has grown up with smartphones, they have been able to capture just about everything that goes on in their day-to-day lives.
31.4.2 Section 2
Many members of Generation Z can use these efficient apps such as the camera app to help them in their daily life. The app store is flooded with millions and millions of apps that can provide useful for almost any task. The calculator app has helped many people become quicker and more efficient in solving math problems. There are flashlight apps, entertainment apps, shopping apps, social apps, and so much more. The culmination of all of these different tools mentioned above onto one device is what makes them so popular amongst the members of generation Z. It has only become increasingly more popular as time continues to progress.
Image By PxHere is in the Public Domain CC0
31.5 Impact on Generation Z
Key Takeaways
“This App Teaches Sketching Skills to Improve Graduation Rates in Science and Engineering” by UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0
31.5.1 Section 1
As mentioned above, smartphones are extremely popular among generation Z. An astonishing 98% of generation Z own their own smartphone. As smartphones are proven to be very beneficial to younger minds, they can also be equally detrimental to them. Social media apps can connect many members of society to share ideas and collaboration with one another. Many schools and universities have implemented smartphone technology to help students learn and understand concepts in a language that suits them more. As humans are evolving, so is the technology and these are the positive impacts that smartphones have had among them.
31.5.2 Section 2
The increase of smartphone usage among generation Z has to lead to massive cyberbullying issues. Suicide rates among teens are at an all-time high and this has been proven to be linked to the increase in social media usage. Many teens are getting shamed for certain things that they post online, or feel as if they aren’t getting enough gratification from certain users and this can really hinder one’s self-esteem. Social media as itself has become a problem amongst this generation, but the device enabling this type of behavior is the smartphone. Generation Z has also been more distracted than other generations because although they may be tools for learning, many people will still be distracted by their smartphone devices. “The main challenge reported by 81.42% of nursing students in the use of Facebook was distraction from other Facebook contents. ” (Oducado 2019) This was a study that showed a significant amount of students apart of generation Z that were distracted when utilizing Facebook for learning purposes.
Review Questions
What percentage of generation Z own a smartphone?
What year did the first iPhone release?
When was the first camera invented?
Food for Thought
Do you think that generation Z has been positively or negatively impacted by the use of smartphone technology?
How can society limit the amount of negative side effects of smartphone usage among generation Z?
What does the future of smartphone technology look like for future generations?
References
YPulse. (2022, March 30). 3 Stats on How Gen Z Is Being Raised on Smartphones.https://www.ypulse.com/article/2022/03/29/3-stats-on-how-gen-z-is-being-raised-on-smartphones/
Sellers, D. (2021, September 15). Study: Apple’s iPhone the favored smartphone for 70% of Gen Z. Apple World Today.https://www.appleworld.today/archives/75954
Gen Z Nursing Students’ Usage, Perception and Satisfaction with Facebook for Educational Purposes: Tool for Learning or Distraction.https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3491589
How Generation Z’s Reliance on Digital Communication Can Affect Future Workplace Relationships – ProQuest. (n.d.).https://www.proquest.com/openview/5a46db142cff6135e5f739b38ac0e8f2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar
