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Cell Phones

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• Guests
• For Your Files

Cell phones have become an everyday part of our lives. In this episode, we learn about how cell phones work, and how to choose one that fits your needs. We touch on the issue of cell phones and driving, and discuss other ways cell phones are changing how we live.

Guests

Louis Hammond

Louis Hammond

Louis Hammond is assistant director of Networking and Telecommunications Services for the University of Minnesota. He manages the group that installs, services, and maintains the University’s telephone and data infrastructure and he headed a project that replaced the University’s entire telephone infrastructure.

Carol Molnau

Carol Molnau

Carol Molnau serves Minnesota both as the state's number two executive, Lieutenant Governor also as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Karal Ann Marling

Karal Ann Marling

Karal Ann Marling is a professor of Art History and American Studies at the University of Minnesota. She has authored several books on popular culture, including, The Colossus of Roads, Graceland, and Blue Ribbon: A Social and Pictorial History of the Minnesota State Fair.

For Your Files

Louis Hammond defined a cell phone as a radio phone, or a radio that talks to an antenna. Cell phones work within a network of radio antennas, or cell towers. Cell phones tend to have a 3-5 mile range from the antennae, depending on the terrain of the area. Most cell phones in urban and suburban areas are digital, but the old analog method is still in place in the rural areas, outside the cities, where the digital technology hasn’t yet reached.

A Web site with good information on cell phones is cellular-news.com. The information includes how to pick phones, some comparisons, and good coverage maps. There’s also a glossary with terms you'll often hear cell phone vendors use. In addition, there's information on a new 3rd generation digital technology for cell phones that’s coming later this year.

Bottom line, Louis says, is figure out your needs, do your research, and make sure you can return your phone and service plan if you try it and find out you don't like it. You should make sure you evaluate the return policy of the vendor. If you get a phone that you don’t like, or you bring it home and it doesn’t work, most vendors have a 14 day return policy. You can turn in the phone if it’s in good shape, and pay for the service up to date. You don't want to commit to a phone and long term contract without this option.