printed by Mobile Phones and Technology Giancarlo Santini & Gabriel Román Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Mobile Phones and Technology Giancarlo Santini & Gabriel Román Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Nowadays the amount of young children with cell phones is increasing every year. A couple of years ago, if you wanted to be the owner of a cell phone you had to work hard for it and had to be more mature, with an age of 12 years or more. This motivated us to see if a high number of people have cell phones on our region. At today’s generation children with an age between 8 or 10 years have any kind of cell phones. In the year 1990, 12.4 million people worldwide had cellular subscriptions. By the end of 2009, only 20 years later, the number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide reached approximately 4.6 billion, 370 times the 1990 number. We decided to interview 10 persons to verify if what we said was true or if it was just our myth. Throughout our work we concluded that most of persons life won’t be the same without a mobile phone. 40% of the participants used the phone for internet or texting which is not a mobile phone’s main function. We also got to see that 70% of the owners of mobile phones had a smart phone and that 70% of the participants feel that their mobile phone has helped them on their job/school. What is your mobile service provider? (10 participants of the survey) AT&T - 90% T-Mobile – 0% Sprint – 10% Claro – 0% Other – 0% Since when do you have a mobile phone? 12 years or before – 30% 12 years or after – 70% Do you have unlimited texting? Yes – 60% No - 40% Does your mobile plan include internet? Yes- 40% No – 60% What type of phone do you have? Smart Phone – 70% Camera Phone – 10% Music Phone – 0% 3G Phone – 20% 4G Phone – 0% You have a mobile phone since: 1980’s – 0% 1990’s – 60% 2000’s – 40% For what do you use your mobile phone mostly? Calls – 60% Texting – 20% Internet – 20% Have your mobile phone help you on your Job/School? Yes – 70% No – 30% Does everyone on your house have a mobile phone? Yes – 80% No – 20% Will your life be the same without a mobile phone? Yes – 20% No – 80% The following questionnaire was used to gather information about the use of mobile phones: 1. What is your mobile service provider? ____AT&T ____T-Mobile ____Sprint ____Claro ____Other 2. Since what age do you have a mobile phone? ____12 years or before ____12 years or after 3. Does your mobile plan include unlimited texting? ____Yes ____No 4. Does your mobile plan include internet? ____Yes ____No 5. What type of phone do you have? ____Smart Phone ____Camera Phone ____Music Phone ____3G Phone ____4G Phone 6. You have a mobile phone since: ____1980’s ____1990’s ____2000’s 7. For what do you use your mobile phone mostly? ____Calls ____Texting ____Internet 8. Has your mobile phone help you on your Job/School? ____Yes ____No 9. Does everyone on your house have a mobile phone? ____Yes ____No 10. Will your life be the same without a mobile phone? ____Yes ____No To conclude, our research indicates that 80% of the participants’ life won’t be the same without a mobile phone. For most of them their internet access, music, and texting would be something to miss. Problem: The problem is that nowadays days people are depending more and more on their mobile phones. In the year 1990, 12.4 million people worldwide had cellular subscriptions. By the end of 2009, only 20 years later, the number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide reached approximately 4.6 billion, 370 times the 1990 number. Research question: Will people’s life be the same without their mobile phones? ABSTRACT PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - AGMUS, Student Research Development Center – SRDC - Dr. Juan F. Arratia, Executive Director SRDC - Prof. Evelyn Haddock, SRDC Co-IP, Inter American University, Metropolitan Campus - Research Mentors: Dr. Ángel Caraballo and Prof. Irma Álvarez - Our group of the program at the Inter American University. - St. Mary’s School faculty for supporting us throughout the research.