Mobile culture - a matter of fashion or a matter of fact?

In less than 2 decades, mobile phones evolved from being extremely expensive gadgets to a relatively low-cost personal objects. Nowadays, in many countries, mobile phones outnumber landlines telephones, with most adults and already many children owning mobile phones. It is frequent for young adults to own a mobile phone instead of a landline for their home - saving costs. In some emerging markets (like Mexico, for example) where there is little existing fix line infrastructure, the mobile phone has become prevalent.

With such a high rate of mobile phone penetration, these objects became a vital social instrument, and many people depend on their mobile phone address book to stay in contact with their friends. Many people keep in touch using short text messages (sms, short message service) and a total culture of "texting" has emerged after the year . Many phones even offer Instant Messenger services to increase the simplicity and ease of texting on phones.

The mobile phone itself has also become a fashion object, with users customizing and personalizing their headsets to reveal their personality. In the same way as customized ringtones have been developed.Mobile phone etiquette became a central matter with mobiles ringing at funerals, weddings, movies, and plays. Users often speak at increased volume, with little regard for other people around. It has become common practice for places like bookshops, libraries, movie theaters, and houses of worship to post signs prohibiting the use of cell phones, sometimes even installing jamming equipment to prevent them. The US intercity passenger system Amtrak offers a "quiet car" where cell phone use is prohibited, much like the designated non-smoking cars in days of yore.

Camera phones and videophones that can capture video and take photographs are increasingly being used to cover breaking news. Stories like the London Bombings, the Asian Tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina have been reported on by camera phone users on news like never before.