Mobile phones as a status symbol have been a closely-observed phenomenon since mobile handsets became affordable to the general public, as well as brand names like Motorola began marketing sleeker, more stylish cell phones, using young people and executives as their target demographic. Many children in schools consider their mobile phones to be an icon of their popularity amongst their peers (although I have to say, at that age I wouldn't have had anybody to call except my parents - which wouldn't exactly have branded me one of the 'cool cats') - the newer the phone, the cooler you are; and woe betide the kids who get hand-me-downs from parents and are left with just a phone, sans-color display, sans-camera. These schoolyard equations have, to a smaller extent, passed on into the business world - just as salesmen are often judged even before they've emerged from their car, a modern businessman or woman spotted using a weighty brick of a mobile phone would no doubt be considered as giving off the wrong impression.



So then, why has such a small object been granted such significance? When we see cheap mobiles do we think, "Cheap owner"? Once again the answer is in marketing - with TV adverts portraying celebrities and beautiful people parading around with their shiny new handsets, phones featuring in rap music videos, and more and more mobile phone shops springing up in every location possible, it's being driven into us, day in, day out, on an unconscious level that the mobile phone we choose for ourselves in some way reflects who we are.



However, the good news is that even the newest handsets are affordable to the average everyday consumer. Even the most recent contract mobile phones can be had for free if you're willing to pay the monthly line rental for at least 12 months. So there's no need to fret any more about what people are going to think when you pull out your *gasp* 3-year old phone in public. Fantastic.

 

James Gibson provides mobile phones with interesting articles. Please visit www.thephonespot.com for more information.