a couple of weeks ago, i got together with a young graduate student who grew up in the same town i did. she's here studying architecture for the summer (she came to the right place for that--think jørn utzon's sydney opera house). we were sipping iced tea in the garden and discussing her impressions of denmark thus far (she'd been here a week at that point). one remark really stuck with me and i've been pondering it ever since. she said, "there seems to be a really high standard of living in denmark."
she went on to explain why she thought that and she mentioned that people are well dressed (i told her those were probably swedes), they're all out shopping (she's been spending time in the center of copenhagen, so i can see why she thinks this--tho' again, i maintain those are mostly swedes), they have nice bikes (that's true) and everyone has a mobile phone.
the mobile phone thing surprised me a little bit. i mean, of course everyone has a mobile phone. even sabin has one. we don't even have a land line anymore. we are, after all, well into the 21st century.
last week, in dublin, i noticed a lot of people with mobile phones as well. everyone is going along texting or phoning someone. after all, how else do you ever meet someone somewhere? but in dublin, there was a difference in the phones. i saw several people with the
old black & silver sony ericsson i had back in 2004 and even older, more decrepit, possibly steam-driven nokias. oh the horror.
and it led me to ponder a sociology of mobile phones. my theory is that the higher the standard of living in a society, the more often people replace their mobile phones to the latest model. i have a friend here in denmark who, every six months, when her "old" phone that she's bound to by her plan is free to SIM unlock, she gets a new phone. she loves having the latest model. and i know she's not the only one. you just have to look around when you're on the train or in a cafe to notice--everyone has a new phone. unless they're trying to be retro (like husband, who is using my 2006
sony ericsson K800i and refuses to replace it until it actually falls apart in his hands--which is what happened to HIS version of that same phone), people generally have the latest, coolest mobile phones.
it was obvious in other ways in ireland that it's not a rich country. not that it seemed poor either. it's just evident that it doesn't have the same economic success of the scandinavian countries i spend most of my time in. people's phones are cool in norway too (and their cars, don't even get me started on their cars). and my point is that you can actually use the mobile phones people have as a sort of thermometer of economic prosperity. if people are prosperous, they replace their phones to the latest models when they come out, even if their old phone is still working. because they want to have the latest, coolest new gadget. in less prosperous societies, people keep their old mobile until it's not working anymore.
frankly, although i am a total gadget hound, the latter model is much more sustainable in terms of the planet (we'll soon be surrounded by heaps of old, abandoned mobile phones). on the other hand, i'm pretty pleased with my iPhone and my brand spanking new HTC Touch Diamond 2. which is vastly improved over the Touch Diamond original that i got back in march. in this case, i had to replace it already because that first phone was rubbish (turning itself off all the time, which nicely cut back on the amount of phone calls i got). and yes, i have two mobiles. one personal and one for work. that's another societal reality today.
look around. what are the mobile phones like your country? it'll give you an idea of how it's doing.
