The Perks of Cellphones

I am a self-declared phoneaholic and use my phone countless times each day. However, there is a somewhat negative attitude surrounding the constant use of cellular devices. Some believe that phone addiction causes people to become detached from the "real world".

I wanted to find an article that would help dispel this stigma and show how phones actually help people connect to the "real world". The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation promoted an article by author Chris Higgins called 6 Ways Cell Phones Are Changing the World Beyond the Ways Youre Probably Thinking. The article has a few interesting points including: cell phones make saving and spending money easier, save lives, connect the world,  inform and warn communities, create new market places, and help people find jobs.

Higgins utilizes multiple rhetorical devices to support his claims. He builds credibility by referencing information from the UK government, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, a state program in India, and a study in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. He also uses pathos to appeal to emotions of sadness and compassion when he explains that cellphones can fix some of the struggles that people in third world countries face. Furthermore, Higgins uses logos. He includes facts and statistics in his journal. For example, "...three quarters of the people on Earth have access to a mobile phone. There are now at least 6 billion mobile phone subscriptions active... and 5 billion of those are in developing countries." Higgins' use of logos reveals that phones are improving and/or saving the lives of billions of people in developing countries.

Those who believe that phones isolate people from reality may actually be missing out on endless connections to the "real world". If people analyzed the many world-wide benefits of cellphones they might realize how useful they actually are. Cellphones could perhaps be considered vital tools of communication and opportunity rather than devices of distraction.

Higgins, Chris. "6 Ways Cell Phones Are Changing the World (Beyond the Ways You're Probably Thinking)." (2013). Web. 29 Oct. 2015. <http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2013/12/6-Ways-Cell-Phones-Are-Changing-the-World-Beyond-the-Ways-Youre-Probably-Thinking#.VjJcgL74vFI>.