Cellphone: The New Media And Its Impact On People, Communication Order And Social Structure

In ancient times, people sought different ways to communicate with each other. The Chinese language had its powerful four-character idioms like Feng Huo Lian Tian-- the flames of war burned high into the sky -- meaning the drums of war are beating. Nowadays, wherever we go, we can easily contact each other by cellphone. Through this fast-improving technology, we can talk, work and entertain ourselves. We have become ever more reliant on the technology as it brings more convenience to our lives. How does the cellphone affect our lifestyle, communication and society as a whole?This study places the cellphone against the background of a larger social milieu, focusing on its impact upon people, their lifestyles and the development of society. As it merges into every facet of ordinary life, the cellphone shapes not only the reallocation of social productive forces, funds and technology, but also the structure of communication itself. There is a famous quote in the Feng Xiaogang-directed movie Cellphone: The cellphone can be a grenade in the wrong hands.The debate still rages. Some say that the cellphone frees people to work, to study, to communicate, even show off. But for me, that is not its real power. What makes the cellphone revolutionary, in my opinion, is its capacity to rebuild public knowledge. A sense of participation in public affairs is actively fostered through the use of this technology. For the media first and foremost belongs to the people, not the officials or the scholars. Thus the potential of this technology is endless and the cellphone will only reveal its true value over time.