The new generation are using gadgets for everything. We interviewed Colin a first year student at Huddersfield about his favourite gadget.

What is your favourite gadget at the moment and what does it do?
At the moment I am using my phone for everything. It acts like a USB so I can put files on it like PowerPoints. I can download MP3s, video clips, Sky headlines, business reports, the weather and even trailers for films. I can also find the nearest café with its GPS (Global Positioning System) function or get road directions. Or I can type in my postcode and get directions to someone else’s house with their postcode.

I get business news sent to my phone every morning so I can go into my lecture and brag that I know what’s going on.

How has it changed your day-to-day life? What would it be like without it?
Without my phone I wouldn’t be able to keep up with what’s happening as I don’t have a TV (due to the licence cost). I also don’t know my way round Huddersfield very well and I can use it to find the nearest cash point to me or find where the cinema is and what’s on.

Do lots of your friends have similar things?
My phone seems popular with most of my friends – a top of the range 3G phone.

What do you think the next big thing will be or what would you like to get next?
In Oxford they are developing a 3G system where you can watch TV live on your phone. When analogue TV is switched off in the UK and everyone moves to digital they will be able to broadcast.

I would like to have radio on my phone too. It is on a lot of the simpler cheaper phones and my brother and sister have it on theirs. I would also like a flash for when I am filming.

Do we need gadgets? Other people’s views
As we discovered in the interview, Colin finds his phone really useful to keep him up-to-date. However, as Dan says, ‘He could always read the newspaper… I can see it has its uses but I wouldn’t generally need it. Advertising tries to convince you it’s essential to your life, but we did survive before.’

Kate has a phone that can tell her where the nearest takeaway is, ‘I only used it once to see if it works but don’t use it as I know my area. I can see how it could be useful but I just want to use my phone to ring people and text.’

Such sophisticated gadgets obviously don’t appeal to everyone but for many it’s become a necessity.

Bernie
March 2007

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