Abstract This paper examines cell phone technology with a particular emphasis upon its relationship to the processes of globalization. The paper argues that this technology is symbolic of both the promise and the problems of globalization. The paper looks at how cell phone technology is being innovated in not only the West but also in East and South Asia and shows how this technology continues to reflect its Western origins and is indicative of the expansion of Western paradigms of science, technology and production - at the expense of potential alternatives - on a global scale. The paper notes that while the technology of cell phones has effectively filled a clear need for a wireless audio communication device on a global scale, it is also widely accessible and comparatively inexpensive within the developing world. In conclusion, the paper shows that this technology is also emblematic of the contemporary nature of globalization in which high technology industries in the developing world serve as outsourcing sites serving the interests of globalized corporations headquartered in the West, and whose workers are valuable solely for the low labor costs and absence of benefits in many of these countries.
Outline:
Introduction
The Essentials of Cell Phone Technology
Cell Phone Technology and the Global Market
The Extended Impacts of Cell Phone Technology
From the Paper "Clearly, cell phone technology has - within less than a generation - transformed communication practices on a global scale. This transformation is due, in large measure, to the nature of the technology itself which allows for digital compression of communications streams which, by reducing the portion of a channel used by a call, saves network capacity and allows for a cell phone service to serve very large numbers of callers at the same time (Straubhaar and LaRose 2004). Moreover, with digital technology the cells are much smaller, with some being as small as a few hundred yards in diameter. With a given area covered by a large number of digital cell phone antennae, the need for a powerful transmitter on the phone itself is thereby reduced."
