Despite a sceptical greeting and a slow start in the 80s, mobile phones have had one of the biggest changes on society of any recent gadget. Initially mocked as a status symbol for yuppies and city traders, cheap production quickly moved them from flashy status symbol, to must have gadget, to everyday appliance.
As mobile phones became smaller, cheaper, and easier to use, more and more people started to use them. Even as they became every day items, carried around as an essential along with our house keys and purse, the miniature computers inside them become more and more advanced.
These large increases in computing power allowed the manufacturers and carriers to start offering customisation options, allowing users to modify their own phones with clip on covers, wallpaper pictures to display on screen - and downloadable polyphonic ringtones.
Initially only basic cheap ringtones were offered, using a limited range of sounds to play the sort of tacky music you’d expect to hear as hold music. However, manufacturers soon realised how popular cheap ringtones were, and so started to add more complex audio functions to their mobiles.
Mobile phones can now play complete CD quality music and sound effects, and be configured to play a specific tune for a group of people, as well as when recieving a text message or other alert. The once heavy and limited status symbols have now evolved into desirable hand held computers, combining PDA and mobile sound system.
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