Cell Phones - or Mobile Phones, depending on which part of the world you reside in. I wonder, is it possible to go anywhere in the world without seeing one of these instruments. I am a resident of the Oceania region and I look upon cell phones with a mixture of humour, disdain, irritation and I guess, a little admiration.

This technology permits us to communicate with each other from almost any place on earth. So long as you pay the money to your provider you can make a call to your landline home telephone from anywhere, using "agents" within the country you are visiting.

As with everything, technology improves(?) every day. So it is with cell phones. I am sure it won't be long before we can put them on a key ring! It doesn't seem such a long time ago that my son had a phone that was about the size of half a house brick, and if you were going to try to clip it to your belt buckle, there was a likelihood that your trousers would finish up around the ankles.

Pricing, naturally, has made cell phones much more accessible to the general public and evidently this suits the younger members of our society. Although it still somewhat amazes me that even with prices being quite reasonable, how is it possible for schoolchildren to afford what is basically still an accessory?

From an irritating point of view, and not wishing to sound pedantic, I find it somewhat invasive to overhear a conversation on a cell phone, say in a restaurant, while enjoying a pleasant meal, the recipient informing the caller where they are and what they are eating. Who said the art of conversation is dead?

On a more serious note, cell phones can also be a lethal weapon in the wrong hands. How so I hear you say? How many times have you been driving and seen the "one-handed driver" with cell phone in the other hand having an extended conversation while travelling at the speed limit on the freeway? Thankfully, most civilised societies have banned this crazy practice.

Don't think that by reading this article that I am anti-cell phone. I most certainly am not. I find that having the phone to hand can be more than useful in emergencies. I am only making tongue in cheek remarks as a little nudge in the ribs of the world of cell phone users.

Which brings me to my conclusion, we all know that this type of phone, as with all other commercial products, is there to make money for the manufacturers, retailers, providers and give pleasure and convenience to the users. And so be it.

My final and I consider the most amusing thing I have seen quite recently with cell phones, concerned an advertisement for a Nokia phone (or was it Motorola). Anyway, a list of advantages for this particular model were proffered for the public: camera, message service, make a cup of tea, all sorts of things. What was evident was that the SIXTH item on the list of the selling points was the first reference to actually making a telephone call!!

Ah, what wonderful times we live in!!