Will cell phone meet cigarette’s fate?
Strange things are happening around us. Scientists have discovered that dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds, or conversely the avian gene could be a forerunner for theoretically giving birth to another Jurassic Park, though the professors who made this discovery in Britain have hastened to clarify that they have no intention of attempting anything quite so drastic, anytime in the future!
I read recently that there could be water on the moon and hope for life there, and I am left a little stumped because just the other day I confidently informed my students about there being no atmosphere or water on the barren surface of our natural satellite.
Similarly, it’s no surprise to envision the look of bafflement on the faces of the previous generation such as our parents and grandparents when they come across smoking rooms that have mushroomed all over airports, because surely they were not there when they last looked.
I see scores of people rushing off flights and making their way feverishly towards the nearest one, pulling out cigarettes hastily, anxious to take the first relaxing drag of the day, while nodding to their huddled brethren therein, already puffing away.
What happened to the whisky swilling hunks of Madison Avenue, the advertising hub in New York and their comrades all over the world, who flaunted their addictions openly and had girls swooning over their ever-so-casual pull at the cigarette and accompanying swagger? Board rooms, in those glorious, carefree days were hazy with smoke and deals were struck over gin or whiskey in offices.
Today all of a sudden these people have become pariahs, relegated to closed rooms in public places and made to feel guilty for indulging in the pleasures of nicotine so much so that non-smokers consciously avoid being in proximity for fear of inhaling the noxious fumes. For decades, it was considered harmless to smoke and nobody was the wiser. Now we are advised to avoid cigarettes like the plague lest they cause life-threatening illnesses.
This led me to question when, if ever, science may sound the death knell for the cell phone?
As of now that situation appears to be inconceivable considering the way smart phones have inched their way insidiously into our homes, offices and lives. Whoever imagined that this harmless looking, slim piece of plastic will have the power, one day, to make watches, calendars, diaries, books, cameras, face-to-face conversations and a multitude of our day-to-day activities obsolete and redundant? Already it has invaded our lives to such an extent as to actually threaten and determine the future of our relationships and soon with technology working overtime it may become the single, most valuable thing we own.
Today it is virtually impossible to consider a future without a smart phone, but if, God forbid, a keen scientist with a perverse and diabolical mind stumbles upon a discovery that proves the use of a cell phone may actually harm our health, I wonder if it too will meet the fate of the ‘cursed’ cigarettes and find itself relegated and imprisoned in a ‘cell room’, visited by individuals only under extreme duress?
IT’S NO SURPRISE TO ENVISION THE LOOK OF BAFFLEMENT ON FACES OF THE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS WHEN THEY COME ACROSS SMOKING ROOMS