On June 7, 2010, Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, announced the IPhone 4 to Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference.4 It was not only on every news channel for weeks, but also every social networking site. The excitement was palpable. Jobs’ announcement of “facetime,” which created a buzz never before seen for a phone, caused critics and enthusiasts alike to become vocal. Critics claimed that the potential use of mobile video chat replacing regular phone calls altogether would cause major breaches of privacy.5 Advocates, however, claimed that this would lead to a decrease in texting and email, something that many would rejoice since the newer generations have turned to messaging than actual fact-to-face communication. Though the use of messaging will most likely never be obsolete, the option of seeing the person you are communicating with will gradually cause the return of the face-to-face aspect of human interaction.
There is also the heavy usage of social networking with every smartphone, but with the IPhone, it is easier than ever. Facebook, twitter, blogger, myspace, etc. are all not only included in easy-to-use applications, but also with multitasking, you can manage these networks with amazing ease. Though some look down on the explosion of social networking in the past decade, it has opened a whole new world of socializing with friends, future friends, family, and long-lost acquaintances. Even with the video games, or root of evil, as some older generations have called them, are now playable with friends on the IPhone 4. Though adding a competitive social network to the mix, this addition is still bringing the human interaction into the lives of gamers, in comparison to sitting at home playing against the computer for hours on end.
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4. Dudley, B. (2010, July 7). Jobs unveils iPhone 4 at Apple conference. The Seattle Times. October 3, 2010, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012055527_brier06.html
5. Mitrano, T. (2006, Nov. - Dec.). A Wider World: Youth, Privacy, and Social Networking Technologies. EDUCAUSE Review, 41, 16-29. October 3, 2010,
