NEED RESPONSES FOR A CLASS: Cell Phone Use In Other Countries

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In regards to cell phone use, what are your perceptions from having visited other countries? do people in other countries use cell phones as frequently as we do in the states for checking social media, frequent texting or calling?

Thank you for answering!

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Type: Question • Score: 4 • Views: 936 • Replies: 20

[+3] - CalamityJane - 02/18/2017[quote="gungasnake"] Many countries do not have the infrastructure which the US has for landline phones and hence the proliferation of cell phone is greater, or at least it has been up...

@k1993,

Many countries do not have the infrastructure which the US has for landline phones and hence the proliferation of cell phone is greater, or at least it has been up to now. Cell phone infrastructure is much cheaper to build from scratch.

2 Replies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_mobile_phones_in_use

Hope this helps

1 Reply

@saab,

https://www.emarketer.com/Article/2-Billion-Consumers-Worldwide-Smartphones-by-2016/1011694

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@k1993,

For a start they're not called cell phones in the UK. They're called mobile phones. In Germany they're called handies.

In Holland they're trying new ways to combat road accidents.

Quote:

Pavement lights have been installed at a pedestrian crossing in a Netherlands town to help smartphone users cross the road safely.

The light strips are designed to catch the eye of people looking down at their device, and change colour to match traffic signals.

The lure of games and social media has come "at the expense of attention to traffic", said councillor Kees Oskam.
"It's not a good idea to help mobile phone users look at their phones," said Jose de Jong of VVN, the Dutch Traffic Safety Association.

"We don't want people to use phones when they're dealing with traffic, even when walking around.

"People must always look around them, to check if cars are actually stopping at the red signals."

The lights have been installed on a trial basis at one crossing, close to three schools in Bodegraven.

The company that developed the technology says it hopes to offer the strips to other towns in the future.

Similar pavement lights are being tested in the German city of Augsburg to help so-called "smartphone zombies" navigate level crossings.

But Dutch road safety group VVN said the idea "rewards bad behaviour".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38992653

I couldn't say if they're used more or less than in America, not having been there since mobile phones became widespread.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

For a start they're not called cell phones in the UK. They're called mobile phones. In Germany they're called handies.

Also Mobiltelefonen. In Italy I believe they are called telefonini (plural), telefonino (singular) - "little phone". In France, téléphone(s) mobile(s)

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I suspect it varies in the US, and, if so, that may be related to where one lives. I remember when they were called car phones, and then cell phones, and now often or usually called mobile phones.

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@gungasnake,

gungasnake wrote:

Many countries do not have the infrastructure which the US has for landline phones and hence the proliferation of cell phone is greater, or at least it has been up to now. Cell phone infrastructure is much cheaper to build from scratch.

How many other countries have you visited? Most of Europe has a better infrastructure then the US. Actually, China has too in bigger cities, South America does, most of Africa does, Asia anyway.....and guess what: they have refrigerators too!!

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@CalamityJane,

CalamityJane wrote:

and guess what: they have refrigerators too!!

And running water, and color TV!

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@CalamityJane,

CalamityJane wrote:

gungasnake wrote:
some crap

How many other countries have you visited?

None, is my guess.

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@centrox,

I think so too!! A lot of Americans live with this notion that they're living in a privileged world with a superior technology.

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@CalamityJane,

CalamityJane wrote:

A lot of Americans live with this notion that they're living in a privileged world with a superior technology.

I know that definitely used to be the case, even when it wasn't true in the 1960s and 1970s, but it seems the notion is still alive for many.

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I suppose I need to say, not me. A zillion of americans are not alike.

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Thumbed you up there, Osso. I have to say that even now, there are a lot of British people who like to comfort themselves with the notion that all, or most other countries are somehow inferior or more primitive in some way. French plumbing, Italian business ethics, stereotypes like that. Of course these people "know" that the Americans have better and bigger fridges, cars, TVs, etc, but then they also have no culture, lack irony, have a puerile sensor of humour, don't understand soccer, and are loudmouthed, boastful and often obese. (Please note: I am summarising a mindset that I do not share or approve of, OK? Even though I see 'snaggle-toothed Limey' now and then).

1 Reply

@centrox,

Yeah, I've long been interested in other places, book reading if not getting to all those places. That started in fourth grade..

I even like soccer, er, football, though I'm not a follower, year to year, just read up now and then.

I've books upon books about landscape design in the British Isles, mostly England. I'm a known crazy person about Italy, had a an architectural publisher that accepted my outline for my book on piazzas, but then my life devolved and I didn't go through with it, though I still have my outlines and photos. Obsolescent now, but is Italy ever obsolescent? I am interested in the function of piazzas in small towns and of course, in cities. Same with plazas in Mexico.

1 Reply

@ossobucotemp,

ossobucotemp wrote:

I even like soccer, er, football, though I'm not a follower, year to year, just read up now and then.

Here's a heartwarming story.

Quote:

Lincoln achieved a "football miracle" as they knocked out Burnley on a dramatic day of FA Cup fifth-round action, with 10-man Millwall beating Premier League champions Leicester.

The Imps became the first non-league side in 103 years to reach the last eight with their win over the Clarets.

"Football at our level is not romantic and this moment in the limelight is special," Imps boss Danny Cowley said.

"It was a one in 100 chance and thankfully we got that opportunity."

It is the first time in Lincoln's 133-year history that they have reached the quarter-finals.

"It's a football miracle for a non-league team to be in the last eight. The boys were excellent, playing against a Premier League team," Cowley said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39017152

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@CalamityJane,

And not only Americans. In many ways I think people think their country is better than other countries.
Maybe I feel privileged to live in a country where I feel at home.
It is not long ago that USA was ahead of Europe in many ways when it comes to technical things like cars, TVs and all the gadgets we now have in our homes.
Denmark was behind Sweden in practical things in the homes, but gosh was it more fun to live there.
Germany is a highly technical country when it comes to things for men, but oldfashined and impractical when it comes to the things making life easier for the ones taking care of a house.

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@centrox,

centrox wrote:

None, is my guess.

Perhaps Russia, or he could just be letting them tell him what to think on spec.

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@gungasnake,

gungasnake wrote:

Many countries do not have the infrastructure which the US has for landline phones and hence the proliferation of cell phone is greater, or at least it has been up to now. Cell phone infrastructure is much cheaper to build from scratch.

Having re-read Gunga's post quoted here, I have to say there is a great deal of truth in it. Because of cell phone technology, a lot of countries, for example in Africa, are able to (put simply) skip the wired-telephone stage of telecoms evolution.

Mobile phones will account for almost one-tenth of African GDP by 2020. The explosive growth in the telecoms industry is having a major economic, social and political impact on the continent.

Running fixed-line phone service infrastructure to every last little village would be crazily expensive and, these days, not necessary. Even in the cities that were wired, the old state-run fixed-line telephone companies were inefficient monopolies, prompting many in Africa to take up mobiles from around 2000. The number of cell phones has grown from fewer than four million in 1998 to more than four hundred million today, almost half the population of the continent. They aren't just used for voice calls, either. They are bringing in a digital revolution. Payments, access to public services, business opportunities, participation in democracy, etc.

In fact, much though I have found some of Gunga's posts elsewhere very distasteful, verging on crazy, especially his perpetual sneering about "Obunga", his remarks about third-world phone infrastructure and the impact of developments in cell technology are pretty accurate, and looking at his post carefully, I do not really see much sneering at other countries.

1 Reply

@centrox,

centrox wrote:

I have found some of Gunga's posts elsewhere very distasteful, verging on crazy,

He's quite sensible on the topic of capital punishment. Credit where credit's due.

1 Reply

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