Number of Cellphones Now Equal To Half the Human Species

netbuzz writes "A major milestone was reached today, according to communications industry analysts: there are now some 3.3 billion mobile phone accounts worldwide. Of course, it doesn't really mean half the world's population has a cell phone, since users in 59 countries average more than one per person. '"The mobile industry has constantly outperformed even the most optimistic forecasts for subscriber growth," Mark Newman, head of research at Informa said in a statement. "For children growing up today the issue is not whether they will get a mobile phone, it's a question of when," Newman said. In recent years the industry has seen surging growth in outskirts of China and India, helped by constantly falling phone and call prices, with cellphone vendors already eyeing inroads into Africa's countryside to keep up the growth.'"

I have two

[by Anonymous Coward]

So I'm doing my part.

So there's only 0.5 cell phones?

[Foerstner (931398)]

Or are their billions of human species besides Homo Sapiens?

Or...did they mean half the human population?

Re:So there's only 0.5 cell phones?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Or are their...

See, this is why silly, pointless nitpicking isn't a sound strategy.

Next goal...

[TheMeuge (645043)]

Good for them. Now can they all please stop screaming into their phones as soon as my train comes up to the surface. Because if I have to endure one more time of "you won't believe what that bitch said to me" at 100dB and 6 inches away from my ear, I might snap.

OCPC?

[EmbeddedJanitor (597831)]

Perhaps One Cellphone Per Child is a more useful goal than OLPC? Much cheaper and likely far more useful.

I, for one

[noidentity (188756)]

I, for one, thank those in the 59 countries who have more than one cellphone so that I don't have to have one of those damn things.

and in other news...

[zappepcs (820751)]

Hello and 'can you hear me' are the first two phrases that people learn when learning a new language. I remember the days when it was "I'll have another drink please" and "where is the bathroom", followed closely by "what's your sign?"

Better than landline infrastructure

[dal20402 (895630)]

There's a reason this growth has happened and will continue.

Developing countries are going straight to cell networks rather than bothering with landlines. The infrastructure is far cheaper (no last-mile problem) andthe technology is more convenient for users. That's a win-win if ever there was one.

As still-mostly-undeveloped areas in Africa, Asia, and South America continue making progress, so will this industry. Time to go buy some stock.

And for those Luddites proudly proclaiming their cellphone-free status: Your position is nonsense. The cell phone is cheaper than your landline (if you get the right plan). And it comes with the ability to carry it, if you like. Here's a hint: you don't have to carry it all the time, and you don't have to have the phone or the ringer on if you don't want to. I think you all are just being willfully obtuse because you don't like the kind of people you associate with cellphones.

I haven't had a landline in nine years, since I got rid of dialup. I just can't see the point.

911 the only reason for land lines

[slew (2918)]

I haven't had a landline in nine years, since I got rid of dialup. I just can't see the point

If you have ever had an emergency, run for the nearest land line (or program the local police department's emergency number into your cell phone).

Just the other day at work, one of my co-workers collapsed on the floor and started convulsing (as we found out later from diabetic shock). Everyone in the immediate vicinity dialed 911 on their cell phones and got put in a queue (this is california and I think all 911's go to the state patrol first). I hung up the cell and picked up the nearest land line and dialed 911 and got a local 911 operator right away and she called for an ambulance which came about 5 minutes later. Next time, I'm going to reach for the land-line first...

Re:911 the only reason for land lines

[moosesocks (264553)]

If that's not FUD, I don't know what is.

If you've got to dial 911, use the closest fucking phone you can find (and do *not* leave the victim unless it's absolutely necessary).

It's also an egregious abuse of the system for everyone in the room to dial 911 simultaneously. Think about the implications you might be causing...

I can't find a shred of evidence anywhere stating that the 911 system today will intentionally route calls differently based upon if they were placed via a landline or a mobile phone. Given that there may be more than one PSAP [wikipedia.org] within an exchange, it's certainly possible that two nearby phones will get routed differently. However, it's both stupid and dangerous to suggest that based upon your one anecdotal experience, that there's a special low-priority 911 call center reserved for mobile phone users.

Thanks to E-911, you should hypothetically be routed to the call center nearest to the tower you're calling from. If the operator's got E-911 Phase II implemented, they'll even know your exact location. I've seen it in operation, and it's an absolutely fantastic system that has the very obvious potential to save many lives.

Given the spotty reliability of mobile phones in some buildings and rural areas, I'd agree that a landline is superior to a mobile phone if you have the two choices laid out directly in front of you. However, there's definitely no mobile-phone-punishment-queue at the 911 office.

(Another relevant tip that probably saved the life of a close friend: If you're traveling into the backcountry, make sure your party is carrying at least two phones. You get redundancy in case something happens to the guy carrying the phone, and the CDMA and GSM networks in the US often don't overlap in rural areas. Verizon/Sprint are CDMA, whilst AT&T, T-Mobile, and most of the rest are on GSM. You never know where you're going to get a signal, and carrying both types of phone will greatly increase your chances of finding one. This is also assuming you're not traveling alone, which is just plain reckless)

Re:

[LordEd (840443)]

Everyone in the immediate vicinity dialed 911 on their cell phones and got put in a queue

Are you saying that the 911 provider for the cell service is likely to put you in a queue, or that the mass number of cell phones caused a queue? If you mean it caused it, then at least one person who called got through.

There are some cases where a land line is not readily accessible. I have called 911 on a cell several times and have never been queued. One time was to report a hit + run. I was on the line reporting

Re:Better than landline infrastructure

[solios (53048)]

...or some of us are just being "willfully obtuse" because either:

A. We can't afford another bill, no matter how "cheap" other people claim it to be.

or

B. We're sick to death of overhearing half of loud inconsiderate conversations on the bus, waiting for the bus, on the streat, in line at the store, etc. and can't fathom being that willfully obtuse to our fellow man.

I'd carry a celphone distruptor before I'd cary a celphone. No plans to hassle with, no monthly bills. Just the occasional battery and the certain knowledge of a little peace and quiet (or at least some reflected frustration) when some asshat starts bellowing NO NO YOU'RE BREAKING UP I CAN'T HEAR YOU AUGH in the middle of rush hour.

Re:Better than landline infrastructure

[insertwackynamehere (891357)]

I'd carry a celphone distruptor before I'd cary a celphone.

Would you ever consider carrying a pocket dictionary maybe?

Telcos suck as bad as the mobile companies!

[garcia (6573)]

"The mobile industry has constantly outperformed even the most optimistic forecasts for subscriber growth," Mark Newman, head of research at Informa said in a statement.

And the telcos constantly outperformed even the most dismal forecasts for subscriber growth by charging people for long distance service automatically because they didn't add a block onto their account (a $7 fee), they force them to have a telephone in order to get DSL, and they charge astronomical flat rates instead of going back to rate plans which are more reasonable for the amount of usage people require out of their landlines.

When my parents switched from having long distance on their landline (they have to get DSL as there's no cable where they just built) to use only their mobile phones I knew that time was up for the telcos.

Gentlemen, our end is nigh!

[4D6963 (933028)]

Number of cellphones : half the number of humans
Number of women : half the number of humans

Let's see, men can hardly give them pleasure for more than 10 minutes, and we hardly can be arsed to listen to them unless an instance of giving them barely 10 minutes of pleasure hasn't occurred yet. Cellphones can vibrate on demand for hours on end, and women enjoy talking to them for hours too!

Let's face it, we are obsoleted by our technology, and now that there is one cell phone available for every single woman, they no more have a reason to let us live! It's only a matter of time before their collective intelligence realises this and decides to do away with us and for good! We are doomed!! Our only hope of survival is to kill them one by one before they kill us all! WHY ARE YOU STILL SITTING ON YOUR DAMN CHAIR, GET UP AND GO KILL YOUR GIRLFRIEND BEFORE SHE KILLS YOU!!!

Oh, well, that's for the ones among us who have one, of course.. meh.

The upcoming robot wars.

[w3woody (44457)]

So, are cell phones the advanced scouts for the upcoming and inevitable Robot Wars?

The future of computing

[FridayBob (619244)]

For years I've been predicting that cellphones are destined to become the future of computing. They are the most powerful computers that we carry with us all the time, every day. Thus, as they gain more memory and processing power, it may become possible for them to one day host a voice activated user interface. Depending on how sophisticated that becomes (critics will claim that this will require nothing less than a true AI) the applications will be limitless and the GUI will become passe. I think that not long after people are able to dictate letters and other documents, we'll see interest in PC software in general start to slump. Just one thing: let's hope it will be Open Source, because whoever starts this will almost certainly become the next Microsoft.

milestone?

[vimh42 (981236)]

Great milestone. "For children growing up today the issue is not whether they will get a mobile phone, it's a question of when" I asked my daughter to write up a Christmas list. You can guess what made it on the list. Yes that's right. A cell phone. She's six. I don't like the trend.

Half

[fm6 (162816)]

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if half the human race did have cell phones. In the developing world, they're actually more practical than landlines, because they require less physical infrastructure. Plus, in some countries, cell phone rates are structured so that people with very little money can afford them, provided they use them only for texting.

Re:

[Detritus (11846)]

Many people have a business and personal cell phone. Some people have a personal cell phone and another that's dedicated to talking to their secret boyfriend/girlfriend.

Re:

[Iloinen Lohikrme (880747)]

Easy. Lets imagine you are an metal worker. At work you want to maybe use an simpler, roughed and cheaper phone, and when you are in private, you have more advanced and expensive smart phone. Or you could have one cellphone with work number that you use at office hours, and another one that you use in private. Either way, as new services like multisim, which allows you to have multiple phones with the same account and number, people for surely will have more and more phones.

Re:Never had one, probably never will.

[Saxerman (253676)]

If you've never owned a cell phone, you don't know what you're missing. I'm not saying that you would learn to love it, I'm just saying you're criticizing something you've never reviewed.

My own anecdotal story was that I came in late to the cell phone game, and I originally cited similar reasons to your own. As someone who used to have to carry a pager for work, I used to call cell phones the new 'digital leash' and swore I had no use for them. And, perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, I don't really need one, seeing as how I was able to function without one for so many years. But now that I have one, I find it damn convenient.

Although I do know too many people who feel obligated to answer their phone every time it rings. The 'trick' for me is that I control the tool, rather than the other way around. Turn the ringer off, and set it for wiggle mode on specific numbers who don't abuse the privilege of being able to contact you directly.

Certainly a cell phone is a tool that's not for everyone, but I find both the ability to communicate with who I want when I want, and easy access to information (operator, I need an exit) are new abilities that have increased the quality of my life. Even simple pleasures, like being able to call the pizza place while on the way home from work. The more pedantic will claim that I could have merely called before I left work, and they're certainly correct. But, for me, the ability to be more spontaneous is entirely the point.

Re:Never had one, probably never will.

[SydShamino (547793)]

My guess would be that you were modded troll because you were being overly smug. (Shrug, I'm an EE too. I know where my products are used, but no one else reading or posting on this topic cares.)

I have a cell phone. It cost me $8.95. My minutes cost me $90 per year. Only my dad and my wife know the number, and both know I don't like being called. It doesn't mean I'm better (or worse) than anyone else, it just means I don't like being permanently connected a large number of distant (read: not my wife or dad) acquaintances and have no need to chat with anyone constantly.

Other people feel differently, and are perfectly happy to pay $50 a month in pursuit of their goal. My wife, for instance.

Re:Never had one, probably never will.

[Beardo the Bearded (321478)]

The whole point of /. is to have a series of "stupid reasons" and "equally stupid counter-arguments". It's not like we're doing anything even remotely productive. I've even managed to meta-troll your post.

Every thread will spin uncontrollably into previously unimaginable levels of stupidity.

Re:

[_ivy_ivy_ (1081273)]

How is driving a stick shift distracting, unless your driving skill are lacking? If anything, a manual transmission makes you far more aware of what your car is doing at any given moment.