THE FAST OBSOLESCENCE OF CELL PHONES: WHAT YOUNG USERS OF THIS TECHONOLOGY THINK AND FEEL ABOUT IT / A VELOZ OBSOLESCÊNCIA DOS APARELHOS CELULARES: O QUE PENSAM E SENTEM JOVENS USUÁRIOS DESTA TECNOLOGIA

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

We live in a time of ever-increasing technological changes. Nowadays, we can clearly see a significant growth in the number of cell phone users, which shows how fast the this market is expanding. The purpose of the present study was to find out how middle class young people deal with the obsolescence, consumption and constant innovations in cell phones. To reach this goal, a qualitative study was carried out with 15 young people, both male and female, whose average age was 26. Most of them were professionals and had a university degree. All had been intensively using cell phones for more than 5 years. The interviews were carried out on-line through the MSN Messenger chat program. The results showed that cell phones play a central role in their lives. Most of the interviewees admitted that they always carry their cell phones and never switch them off. However, in what concerns their consumption, the participants` statements were contradictory. Most of the interviewees keep the same model of cell phone for a short period of time, providing a host of different reasons for changing it. They all say that a new model should be bought only in case of malfunction of the previous one. However, all of them admit changing phones long before this happens. And the reasons for this behavior lie in the fact that they are attracted by the constant technological innovations.

ASSUNTO(S)

consumer society cellular phone inovacoes tecnologicas sociedade de consumo obsolescence obsolescencia telefone celular technological innovations

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