... its infancy and not all phones offered it; picture messaging was unheard of. Nowadays picture messaging is very much here and already the technology has moved towards video messaging. Some 'mobile phones' would be more accurately described as hand held computers as the telephony is only a fraction of its capabilities and often not even its main function. As with most mobile phones the main function consumer's use is text messaging. According to McLuhan in 'Understanding Media' (1964) the advent of a hot explosive medium can cause drastic changes to politics and society. This can be seen in the effects that such technology has had on not only the telephone but the way people communicate in day to day life. However, when contrasted with a hot medium such as television or cinema, text and picture messaging are comparatively cool. They provide far less information and demand more participation from the ...

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