Few of us would equate a human life to a battery life at first thought. However, if we said communication devices save human lives. most of us would probably agree. We can think of many other devices brought into play when human life is at risk. Moreover the smartphone is undoubtedly taking over provided there is an internet connection nearby.
Early American Messaging When Human Life Was Threatened
American Indians used smoke signals and large drums to signal alarms when the U.S. cavalry sounded their bugles. The railways introduced mechanical signals and radio telegraphs to send messages and avoid collisions. However, it was Scottish-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone that opened up America.
AT&T introduced a mobile phone service using batteries in 1949. However these were huge and the call subscriber’s equipment weighed 80 pounds. Motorola launched the first handheld mobile phone in 1974 although it was still as large as a loaf of bread.
When Human Life Changed with the Cellphone
The first cellular systems rolled out in 1981. An almost continuous chain of improvements followed culminating in the first Blackberries and Apples early this century. That was when human life changed at the social level, perhaps irrevocably. Few of us are prepared to go anywhere without these devices. Conversation freezes when we check our messages.
However, there is another side to smart phones. During natural disasters, and in times of conflict human life equates with battery life as desperate people call for help. When this happens, we may be justified in saying that batteries in smartphones literally stand between life and death. This is why we become so incensed when criminals steal batteries from cell phone towers.
We ask them to kindly stop doing this. When human life is ebbing away from a special person after an accident, surely you want to be able to phone for help?
Battery Thieves Threaten Emergency Calls
Cell Phone Running On Ambient Energy
Preview Image: Early Stage of Tornado (Union City, Oklahoma)
