Texting: Luxury Vs. Necessity

In my last post I sort of debated with myself the effects of technology, more specifically texting. My overall feel was based on the negative, and i feel it was a little unjust. Therefore here is (of a sort) the other side to my arguement.

Granted everything i said was true, or to some extant truthful, texting and the other accesories on mobile phones can be very useful. Before I get into texting specifically i'd like to look at some other items. The first being gps, or global positioning system. This tool that has been implicated into many cell phones can be useful not to mention life saving. Its a safety tool for campers and pedestrians alike if they ever get lost, while also being a tool for pleasure to suit people in their liesure activities such as geocaching. Along with gps is the ability to web browse and use things like e-mail. These are not so much tools but more luxuries, that transform phones even more into computers. People all around the world consider these necessities for work but how can they be necessities if they have only been around for the past couple of years? Was business different that much? Or is it just that everyone is being spoiled by technology to the point where they lose connection with the real world. If this continues what will happen next? Will people become so overly attatched that it interferes with basic rights of humanity? This topic is suggested in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He suggests through the use of sattire that society is overly dependant on technology, and that if something isnt done it will over take our life. Now this message has many other points but thats another blog for another day. Back to todays age.

Texting. With mobile to mobile messaging becoming more popular and abundant everyday how will this turn out? I already spoke about the negative effects it can cause on the personal health but what good can it do? It can offer up to the minute information like sports scores, news stories, weather alerts. All of these can be useful but are they necessary? The big debate is luxury vs. necessity. But in this case i feel its both. Yes to some texting is a luxury and can seem completely uneccesary and pointless but you must look at it from two angles. One of these is in situations where a phone call is out of the question. Now some might find these situations a little extreme but they are all quite possible. Keep in mind that these can all be applied to emergency situations. Lets consider your in an area of bad service. Calls will be unclear and in extreme conditions unmakeable or too broken up to even have any real value. In this situation a simple text can be sent using a split second of service that can get an entire distress message out with textual proof to the receiver (in case they miss read it is always there to be reread). Another situation may be if the user loses audible ability and cant talk. How will a phone call help them? Truth is it might but a text telling a clear message would be much more helpful.

Granted these situations are very extreme and rare, yet are still possibilities. But do they prove texting to be a necessity? Now that is up to you to decide.