As influential as the Internet has been in the last decade, I think you could make a good argument that cell phone technology has had a bigger impact – both good and bad – on society in the last 20 years than any other new technology.  It has changed the way we communicate, interact, and socialize.  There’s no need to make solid plans when going out and meeting friends – just use the cell!  Cell phones in theaters, in restaurants, on public transportation….

The results of a new world-wide survey of cell phone users was reported here in FastCompany magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle.   The amazing, but not really shocking if you think about it, results include:

• Percentage of Americans who said a cell phone reflects as much about someone as a car does (70% of Chinese agreed): 31%
• 63% of Americans wouldn’t lend their cell phone to someone else (90% of Japanese agreed).
• 81% of 15- to 20-year-olds sleep with their phone on.