For some, cellphones' ring is sweeter now
By Anne D'Innocenzio, Associated Press, 9/16/2001
ntil Tuesday's terrorist attacks, Diane Brandon didn't see a real need to replace
her broken cellphone, dismissing it as too expensive and ''too intrusive.''
But listening to the harrowing stories of passengers on hijacked planes calling their
loved ones minutes before they crashed has drastically changed her mind. So have
reports of trapped victims calling for help from amid the rubble of the World Trade
Center.
Hours after the news broke, Brandon, who had put her AT&T wireless service on
hold, was on the phone with the carrier to reactivate her account. The next day, she
bought a new cellphone.
''I was trying to tighten my belt because of the economy. Also, although a cellphone
is an extraordinary convenience, it is also intrusive,'' said Brandon, 40, from Irving,
Texas. ''I can tighten my belt another way. I need peace of mind.''
In the aftermath of this national crisis, a growing number of Americans are now
looking at cellphones as more than just convenient communications gadgets. They are
being viewed as essential security measures.
''Cellphones are no longer being seen as a frivolous expense, but as something very
important for security,'' said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research
Group, a trend consulting firm in Charleston, S.C. ''I think most parents who were
resistant on giving their kids cellphones will now change their mind.''
Ann Crespo, a New York City publicist who typically used her cellphone just to call
her daughter when she was stuck on the train, said she now considers it a ''lifeline.''
Wendy Hendry, who had been poking around for a year to replace an obsolete phone
she keeps in her car, headed out Friday to buy a replacement. ''I am going to bring
this new one with me everywhere I go,'' said Hendry, 56, of Augusta, Ga.
Retailers and wireless service centers have not reported a surge in sales this week.
Rather, they've seen a slowdown in business, given that consumers are glued to their
TV sets.
But Beemer and others expect to see an uptick in business once consumers head
back to the shopping malls.
''I expect to see a surge in demand,'' said Peter Skarzynski, a spokesman for
Samsung Telecommunications. ''People are now seeing cellphones as more of a
necessity, rather than a luxury. It will be like your wallet. You can't leave home
without it.''
Officials at wireless services point out that they don't want to take advantage of a
national tragedy.
Still, the accounts of emotional last words from doomed victims resonate.
''I might have died in that crash,'' said Nancy Price, of Kansas City, as she shopped
for a new phone and service plan, ''but at least somebody would have gotten last
words from me.''
This story ran on page E4 of the Boston Globe on 9/16/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. |
