On the bus, when waiting for an appointment, even when walking to class, there is one habit that people see more often than not: cellphone use. Cellphones are used by the majority of people during all aspects of their everyday routines.

In some cases people even injure themselves because their attention is on their phone rather than the task at hand.

Cellphones become more advanced with every new edition or upgrade that phone companies create for their customers. Apps, GPS, and every facet of the internet is available in the palm of one’s hand, the accessibility is almost irresistible.

Roman Smith, a Sac State junior and English major who, despite having a cracked phone screen, still considers his phone very important in his daily life.

“I rely on my smartphone. I have an app that wakes me up softly,” said Smith.

There are hundreds of apps and tools that phone owners have at their fingertips.

Zachary Stone, a Sac State senior and history major, believes that his phone is very helpful in balancing all of his interests and obligations.

“I use it to text, call, and I have a Chase app for banking, a calendar to keep track of dates, social media in general, music, Google. You use it for everything,” said Stone.

Home phones, also known as landlines, are not capable of doing as much as a basic cellphone; landlines are limited to being close to their receiver, they do not have text capability, and accessing the web is not possible.

There is a decreasing amount of limitations to what a cellphone can accomplish. Landlines, despite generally being cheaper for international calling, have not kept up with the advancements that cellphones have made over the past ten years.

The question of cellphone addiction has been debated among academics, psychologists, and educators. Many people feel that the potential harm is not severe enough to raise concern.

“The natives of tech-land, these wonderful young adults, are developing their own rules for social interaction. To an outsider, they may appear addicted to their cell phones. But I see an emerging form of social interaction in tech-land,” Ira Hyman wrote on PsychologyToday.com.

People who feel the need to be connected to others and the world in general can easily satisfy that need by using their cellphones. Businesses and entrepreneurs have also found ways to utilize cellphones for their work and personal endeavors.

“I enjoy talking to people. I use it for podcasts [and] social media,” said Smith.

Smith said he does not necessarily feel the need to be in constant contact with people, but sees the benefit to having portable technology for his hobbies.

With the installation of Wi-Fi in most public places, people can hop on the web and access almost anything they normally would on a computer, except in a more portable form.

Cellphones can do the same thing as a landline, but have so many additional benefits that many people have given up paying for a landline and instead rely on their cellphone for communication.

Smith and Stone both do not pay for home phone services, because they find their cellphones are more valuable.

Teresa Sy, a pre-health science major, still has a home phone. However, Sy said she prefers a cellphone because texting and the ability to group text, which she finds helpful for her coursework.

“It’s a really instant way of communication and you can take your cell phone anywhere,” said Sy.

Despite the various recounts for why cellphones are generally better than landlines, the reasons always seem to come back to the fact that portable phones keep us in touch within the fast-pace world we live in.

“Culture makes it almost impossible to not have a [cell] phone,” said Smith. “I feel like I have to be [able to be] reached at any time. ‘What if Oprah calls,’ my mom always said that.”