Handphones have become a major part of our lives. Today, it is being widely used all over the world. Most of us, that is. It has metamorphosized from being a luxury to necessity for some of us. Handphones are one of the things that we cannot do without, for one reason or another. We have come to depend on it, increasingly so, and in doing so it has become a need. Having handphones can prove to be very useful but it can also be said otherwise. There are both advantages and disadvantages to owning a handphone or being in the midst of people who own them.

 

Owning a handphone means one can be easily reached when on the road or when one is not at home or in the office. It can even be used when one is overseas, using the ROAM service. There are features such as voice messages and SMS, in other words, Short Message Service. This is to allow people to contact a handphone owner even if he is busy or is unable take the call. These features enable the owner of the phone to know why he is being called, so on and so forth. SMS-es help to keep it short. Without calling, you can leave a short message. Nowadays though, people use it to have conversations, especially the young, and those who find it easier to message than to talk. It is also cheaper and thus allows one to save on talk time. Another advantage would be that of being able to call whenever and wherever there is an emergency, for example when you are in a road accident or you need to call someone and there does not seem to be any public phones nearby. There are also different mobile service plans to choose from to suit one’s communication needs, be it longer talk time, free incoming or outgoing calls, or more free local SMS. As such, one can reap much benefits and save costs. Nowadays, handphones rarely just have one function, which is to make and receive calls. There are more functions and features such as listening to music, taking pictures with an in-built camera, playing games, and even logging on the internet and etc. 

 

There are also disadvantages that come along with the usage of handphones. Firstly, there are limitations to where a handphone can be used. If there were no reception, then there would be no possibility of making or receiving calls. On another note, a person can say he is at a certain place when in fact he s somewhere else. So, you can never be too sure of where a person might actually be. User-abuse is another factor. Here, what is meant by user-abuse is the fact that some users are not considerate in that they make use of the phone in places where it is not allowed. As such they disturb others. It is one thing to let it ring loudly, but yet another, to be answering the phone. For example, in movie theatres, plays and the like. It is said that there are dangers of handphone radiation, though there is no conclusive evidence to prove a link between cancer and handphone radiation. Lastly, handphones cannot be used in most parts of hospitals as it could affect the readings on the equipments due to the radiation emitted and would pose as great danger to the patients.