The Fetishization of Cellphones:

Over the past 10 years we have seen the extreme advances through cell phone technology; for many of us, we never leave home without it, and never turn it off. It is a physical extension of our lives moulded into a miniature device. And with such a large inception into the majority of lives throughout the world, it poses the question if by owning and communicating with our cell phones, we are all subconsciously moving into the ‘technophile’ category, as our lives largely become dependent.

I chose this topic through personal experience, in which earlier this week I had broken my phone and had to wait 3 days for it to be repaired. Living without it was such a bizarre experience, and truly quite frustrating. I found myself reaching for it even though it wasn’t there several times, as well as planning to text others before remembering I couldn’t. This showed me first, not just for myself but as an entire culture how reliant we on this technology, and how personalised it has become in the running of our daily lives. The cell phone is a personalised manifestation of social relations and efficiency rolled into one device, and has spread across the lives of billions in order to offer a simpler and easier means of communication; one in which is not limited by time or money, just reception.

Why do we feel the need to constantly upgrade and renew our technology? As the cell phone technologies have been inducted into many lifestyles, we also begin to see how these personalised items become fetishized, to appeal to our consumer wants, and tap into the idea that slimmer, faster, more advanced models are always available for consumption. It appears that marketing campaigns advertising such products are metaphors for human relationships also, and we begin to associate the idea that purchasing the latest iPhone, or blackberry, will result in some type of social success, or ease and freedom within our personal lives. As people we connect cell phones and their new features as essential, as upgrading technology is a physical form of improvement and gives the feelings of fresh, new and ease when applying these devices to our own lives.