Most innovations have two sides, the good side and the bad side, and the cell phone is no exception. Many people find it hard to believe that there was a time when cell phones didn't exist. Back in the day, letters were used to convey messages before telephones were introduced. Initially, telephones were used only to call people, who only received the call if they were near the handset. Then cell phones were introduced. They could receive or make calls and text messages to most parts of the world. With cell phones, it was easier to write a text message than to write a note by hand as was the case before (). Over time, the level of usage of cell phones has increased and new features have been introduced. Cell phone technology is a double-edged innovation that has inevitably changed socially, both positively and negatively. Cell phones are among the most innovative gadgets of the 20th century. Traditionally, people used cumbersome methods to transmit information and data over long distances, which usually made the communication process inefficient and slow. The ability to communicate differed from society to society and some societies had an advantage over others due to their superior communication methods. It was problematic to send urgent messages due to the lack of reliable and fast communication techniques. The invention of the cell phone solved most of these problems. It introduced a platform through which parties could communicate instantly, regardless of their location or distance. Additionally, cell phone technology is globally accepted and therefore a uniform means of communication, making it both fast and effective in a given community. Additionally, cell phones have paved the way for more technological technologies in our society. Overall, cell phones have helped improve lives, especially if used correctly. To some extent, life these days can be unimaginable without the use of cell phones as we rely heavily on them in our daily lives. As technology improves, so do the uses and features of phones, making it even more difficult to do without them. Works CitedAgar, John. Constant Touch: a global history of the mobile phone. Cambridge: Icon, 2004, Print. Farley, Tom. The Cell Phone Revolution: America's Legacy of Invention and Technology. New York: American Heritage, 2007. Print. Gordon A. Gow and Richard K. Smith. Mobile and Wireless Communications: An Introduction, McGraw-Hill International, 2006. Print. Sahel, Fluhr and Seibel, Nussbaum. Switching plan for a cellular mobile phone system. New York: Penguin, 1973. Print.