The sight of a commuter in gridlock reviewing his day on his Personal Digital Assistant, an adolescent fingering the buttons of a cell phone as if it was the latest video game, and the local café at noon full of laptop users concentrating more on their work than lunch, these are the all too familiar sights we encounter on a daily basis. It seems mobile devices increase our productivity but manipulate our leisure time. A survey conducted in 2000 by Hilton Hotels Worksytles reported nearly half of leisure travelers today take work materials, such as a laptop computer, cell phone or pager with them on vacation (Libaw, 2001, Too connected? section, para. 1). Being able to check our voice mail and email

on a mobile device and respond from anywhere in the world might make a user feel connected but these methods of communication can actually breed misinterpretation and cause confusion. Often multiple emails or messages need to be sent to clarify details, this can consume more time than a quick meeting or conference call.

The use of mobile devices in public no longer elicits the stares and whispers they once did, however the behavior of the user is creating a social upheaval. The etiquette of mobile phones and these go any where devices remains uncodified. The line between public and private space has become a little blurry. Have mobile devices become an excuse for bad manners? Many of us have experienced the co-worker, friend or date who answers the cell phone during dinner. Even after being prompt in the movie theater by voice and screen text to turn pagers and phones to vibrate, you are almost guaranteed to be interrupted at least once by a ringer.

This paper has examined the aspects of mobile devices that contribute to our decrease in leisure time. An examination of the impact wireless technology has had on our social relationships concluded that mobile devices have made human interaction less of a necessity resulting in an increase in social isolation. Next, an analysis of mobile user behavior was performed, and it was noted that mobile device users regularly practice poor social etiquette. Perhaps this is how it has always been “evil communications corrupt good manners” (–I Corinthians 15:33) regardless of the medium they are conveyed across. In conclusion, mobile devices will continue to evolve and have an increasing impact on our lives.

Many mobile devices are bound to safety issues, but these devices can actually be merely a false sense of security and prompt us to take unnecessary risks. Fifteen years ago we would have never set out alone on a cross country adventure in the middle of the night or in bad weather without a map, it would have been deemed blatant stupidity. Today however man

Some topics in this essay:
Customer Content, Tourist Board, Hotels Worksytles, Dean Schabner, , Digital Assistant, Stanford University, Motor Company, European Union, mobile devices, North American, cell phone, mobile device, 2000 pa1, para 1, wireless technology social, sixty percent, wireless technology, technology social, internet users, voice mail, streitfeld 2000 pa1, mobile devices contribute, section para 1,