Communication, according to nwlink (1997) " is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another; it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or feeling to a receiver (U.S. Army, 1983). Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit."

          Communication between people in the past was by doing it face to face as there were no device created to allow people to communicate without meeting that person. Before the creation of the mobile phone people communicate by sending mails as well as telegraphs. Mails would need days to arrive and also took time because the letter had to be put in an envelope and be sent to the post office. Other means of communication other than the letter was by using telegraph. The telegraph (Wikipedia, 2013) was used to send messages by using codes that should be understood by both senders and receivers in order for the message to be able to be passed through successfully. The first telephone was created by Sir Alexander Graham Bell in the 1800s which allowed people to communicate with each other within a short distance and by 1886 more than 150,000 in the United States owned telephones. He made advancements and various improvements to the telephone and after acquiring the carbon microphone patent which belonged to Edison from Western Union his telephone was able to make calls from a longer distance as well as made calls better so that the caller would not need to shout at the phone in order for the person on the receiving side to hear them speak. In January 1915, the first transcontinental phone call was made between New York and San Francisco through a 3,400 mile length wire. Before this, in October 1876 they were only able to communicate with a 2 mile length wire stretched from Cambridge to Boston, (Wikipedia,Alexander Gaham Bell, Later Developments, para 5). The breakthrough of communication is from the invention of the mobile phone which allows people to connect wirelessly between each other without needing to meet the person face to face which means that communication can be done even though the person is far away in another place. This means phone calls can be made even when the caller is outside the house which is good as important calls can be attended to without needing to sit at the couch and wait for the telephone to ring. The first mobile phone was created by Martin Cooper in April 3, 1973 (The History of Mobile Phones, 2013, para 2). Martin Cooper was the senior engineer over at Motorola and the phone he made weighed 1.1kg which is heavy by today's standards. The prototype made allowed only half an hour's worth of talk time and required a whole 10 hours in order for it to charge fully.

Figure 1. Timeline of mobile phones.

          Motorola released its first commercial mobile phone called the DynaTAC 8000x which allows 30 minutes of talk time which is not much compared to the first prototype but this mobile phone can be on standby for six hours and could store a mere 30 phone numbers. In the early stages of the sales of the mobile phones it was considered a luxury item as it costed a hefty USD 4000 which is not reachable for average salaried people but proved popular with businessmen. 1990-1995 was a period where the design of mobile phones became even more compact compared to the 1.1 kg Motorola created by Martin Cooper. This period proved to also be a period where mobile phones could be accessed by average consumers as it became much more affordable. The next mobile phone sensation that was created by motorola was the MicroTAC (Business insider, page 11/34) which was the first phone with a foldable cover which acted as a speaker. When not in use the cover would flip and stay over the keypads which reduces the length of the mobile phone, making it truly compact phone that could be fitted into the pocket of your pants without it falling off due to its size and weight. The next breakthrough in technology by Motorola was the invention of the Motorola international 3200 which offered 2G digitally encrypted technology. This means that text messages can be sent from the mobile phone itself where in the past inventions only calls were able to be made (Wikipedia, 2G, para 1). The IBM Simon was the first smartphone created in 1993 and offer a host of desirable features such as a calendar, address book, clock, calculator, notepad, email, games and a touchscreen with QWERTY keyboard and it was sold for $900. This phone proved to have all round usability as it is a mobile phone, pager, fax machine as well as a PDA. In 1996 Motorola created the first "clamshell" phone which is similar to the flip phone like before but the difference is that the earpiece is on the top half of the phone which can be folded onto the keyboard. This phone offered 1G but soon went to 2G.

          The next phone that was called a mini computer by that era's standard was the Nokia 9000 communicator. The phone could be opened lengthways which would reveal a  QWERTY keyboard and also an LCD screen which gives the user access to more features such as calendars that can be used as well as a planner which is suitable for businessmen. This phone although provides high tech functionality still lacks compactness and due to the addition of the keyboard made it bulky and long making it less appealing. 1998 was the year that phone lost its external antenna whip as it has a built in antennae which was benchmarked by the Nokia 8810 which had slidable keypad cover. Japan's Kyocera Visual Phone was the first to have a built in camera that was only intended as a peer to peer video phone and appeared in 1999. The next innovation to come with the mobile phone was the creation of the colour screen which gives out stunning colours and allowed users to put a wallpaper, personalising the phone at the same time. Fast forward to 2007 and we have the Apple iPhone 3G that was created by Steve Jobs that was the first smartphone that has a touch screen interface. Now in 2013 most of the phones we use utilizes touch screen interfaces. Due to its popularity it could be afforded for as low as $99. Adults are not the only one holding a touch screen interfaced phone and due to the affordability kids nowadays have smartphones in their hands which proves that kids are now being more tech savvy in this high technology age. Smartphones of this age provides various functions such as a built in camera which can go up to 41 megapixels which is more than most digital camera. The mobile phone also provides functions like GPS which means that the user does not need to get a GPS in order to find their way as it is now built in to most of the smartphones that we have today.

Societal Impacts

         The positive effect this technology has on the society is that it allows people from all around the world to communicate with each other by using a mobile phone. The other thing is that we have access to information on the go as the phones we have to day have internet so this allows us to have information on the go. Other than that information can be taken down such as by using the voice recorder or through applications such as a notepad which means that papers and pens are not needed but just a touch on the phone and information can be stored on the phone. The mobile phone also provides a quick way to call someone in the event of an emergency. The mobile phone is mostly used as a camera and is mostly used by people to capture those unforgettable moments and proved to be more popular as a separate digital camera would not be needed as the phone is as good. Games and applications can be downloaded from the phone and can be enjoyed while waiting for the bus or when waiting for food to come to the table in the restaurant.

          The negative impact to society is that it may be too convenient until we depend too much on the phone itself to provide us with the information we need. For example we use the phone to track our location to know where we are in the map and without that if we were given a paper map we would not be able to decipher it and maybe get ourselves to our desired location. Other than that connectivity to social media networks can prove to be good for most people but can be used by criminals to track the location of the user and attempt to rob their house while they are away. This can be due to status updates stating the location of the user which means that the user is not at home, making criminals eye the house. Kids nowadays are so glued to the phone because of the games that it offers and parents see this as a source of entertainment for the kids but this can prove to be a bad habit where kids get attached to the phone and lose the ability to connect with the outside world. There was a time before the mobile phone took over the kid's leisure time they were out in the sun, interacting and having fun with other kids. Other than that the accessibility to social media from the phone itself is a hazard when driving as drivers get distracted by the phone and not concentrating on the main thing which is driving itself. Some people become too attached to their mobile phones that they lose contact with the world and they cannot live without having the phone with them. There are pros and cons when it comes to owning a mobile phone but as long as the usage is controlled it would not be an addiction.

References
-Communication and Leadership (2013). Retrieved from: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcom.html
-Alexander Graham Bell (2013). Retrieved from :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell
- Richard Goodwin (2013). The History of Mobile Phones: 1973 to 2007. Retrieved from : http://www.knowyourmobile.com/nokia/history-mobile-phones/19848/history-mobile-phones-1973-2007
- Justin Meyers (2011). Watch the Incredible 70-Year Evolution of the Cell Phone. Retrieved from : http://www.businessinsider.com.au/complete-visual-history-of-cell-phones-2011-5?op=1#2010-33
- BNadyn (2013). Mobile Lifestyle- Pros and Cons of Cell Phones. Retrieved from : http://bnadyn.hubpages.com/hub/Our-Lives-With-Cell-Phones-Pros-and-Cons