Mobile Phones: Pain or Pleasure? contd By Sandra Blemster

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However, it's not all one sided. On the plus side if you're a lone female driver and your car breaks down they're a godsend. Instead of panicking about where the nearest Emergency Phone on the motorway is, you can store numbers instantly (like emergency breakdown numbers) and call them straight away without any hassle, thus shortening any hanging about time. In a recent study on mobile phones and their usage written by Dr Sadie Plant (carried out on behalf of Motorola) it reported that 60 per cent of lone women have a mobile on show.

It also stated that women in several cities felt that the mobile phone made them feel safer, more confident and in control and were keen to emphasise the mobile's value as a sort of phone-shield against unwanted attention.

The other advantage (which could be seen as debatable according to your phone bill!) is if your children have one. You can ring them to check they're okay (if they've gone out somewhere, or on a trip) or they can ring you to say they'll be late, don't worry or ask for a lift home thus cutting out a lot of possible concern! Or, (hopefully this will never be needed) if you happen to be at the scene of an accident you can ring emergency services straight away which cuts out precious minutes of looking for a call box.

And then from an entertainment point of view you've got your phones with WAP. What's WAP you ask? Indeed. Apparently it stands for Wireless Applications Protocol which to you and I means it give you access to the internet so there's apparently no excuse for not being on the ball and up to date with whatever it is you're meant to be on the ball and up to date with.

So it's not all bad. And I have a secret I must admit to. Since my boyfriend recently acquired one because of his work I've become a bit of a convert. I've started surreptitiously keying in letters and sending them to friends (yes I know it's called texting but I'm not that much of a convert). But the best thing is when they reply and it beeps! Oh, the fun of getting a short message I've drunk too much wine it says. Well, it's a start...the intelligent debates will come later I'm sure. (Oh, and if you see any suspicious looking people hiding something under their coats don't worry...they're probably just more converts who won't admit it!)

And Did You Know This? 1. In 1999 a quarter of households in the UK owned at least one mobile telephone (and it continues to grow)! 2. The latest thing from BT is text messaging from home phones! Yes, for twelve pence a message you can text items such as ordering takeaways to sending greetings to friends and family. BT claims its new £199 home phones could introduce millions of new customers to texting. 3. In Japan where they have one of the highest rates of mobile phone use in the world, mobile aware jewellery has been introduced: the Osaka based Sunshine company has developed an artificial fingernail featuring a tiny light emitting diode which glows red or blue when the user's mobile is active. The nail can be filed to any shape and requires no batteries. Sources: Metro Newspaper / National Statistics - Britain 2001 (The Official Yearbook of the U.K.) / The Effects of Mobile Phones on Social & Individual Life: Sadie Plant / Life in the Real: Anthony M. Townsend

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