Are We Addicted to Technology? (Carolina Cej)

In the following article from Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/15/cellphone-addict-iphone-tech-wireless08-cx_wt0616addict.html the concept of cell phone addiction is further explored.

The article claims that 51% of us would have a very difficult time giving up our cell phones; a higher percentage than internet access or television.

The article notes that while mobile devices were originally intended as a convenience to be used only when absolutely necessary they have now become more like mini-computers which allow us (require us?) to be in constant access to our workplaces. It creates a sense of being in the office 24/7 as it is now impossible to say that we can't access our e-mail or other data that once was only available at work. Has this improved our quality of life, or made it worse? The article quotes some heavy cell-phone uses who all agree that although they are more efficient they don't believe that their quality of life has increased. The article notes that cell phone use is on a steady increase with almost 84% of the U.S. population having a cell phone while there are over 3 billion people world-wide with mobile service, indicating that cell phone usage and addition is only going to increase.


How does the fact that consumers seem to be addicted to cell-phones affect our buying power? According to Porter's Five Forces, Buyer Power is affected by many factors including the number of buyers versus the number of suppliers, fragmentation of buyers and the switching costs associated between different suppliers. Due to the fact that cell-phone purchases are for the most part individuals, some large companies may choose to equip all of their workers with the same brand of cell phone, but by-and-large most consumers purchase cell phones for themselves the buyers market can be said to be fragmented.

This results in less power for the individual buyers. As far as switching between different suppliers, the costs associated with this have decreased in recent years as the competitive market for cell phones generally allows people to switch from one type of cell phone to another without incurring major costs. Learning the different features of other cell phones can be difficult, so this can have the affect of lessening buyer power as people may be reluctant to try a different supplier due to the problem of learning new features. Finally, if we can conclude that people are addicted to cell phones, the buyer is in a weaker position as they essentially have to purchase a cell phone from someone. Although there are many different supplies, this "forced" demand allows the suppliers to control the market as they know that people need to purchase cell phones.

Posted by Carolina Cej (510077)