THE SPREAD OF MOBILE PHONES (COMMENT). I have been posting about what for me is the astonishing spread of cellphones—and the enormously important changes they are making in our lives. In response to this post, Dick Weisfelder e mailed me information about the rapid spread of mobile phones in Africa. In 2000, one in fifty people in Africa had a mobile phone; at the beginning of 2008, about one in three people had one. Subscribers increased by about 30 per cent last year. Seven countries—including South Africa, Botswana and Tunisia–have more than 70 phones per 100 people (which presumably includes children).
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When I think back to the events of September 11th, 2001, one of the things that strikes me is how no one I knew had a cell phone. Lee didn’t have one, I didn’t have one, and the land lines were tied up (or out of order) for hours and hours. The Internet had some down time as well. During that time I was totally cut off. I had a few out-of-state friends who knew I lived near NYC and were worried about me, but had no way of contacting me. Of course, plenty of other people had cell phones, which made headlines as the facts about the day’s events were gathered.