Before iPhones and BlackBerrys, there were Razors and flip-phones. Before those, there were big, bulky Motorola phones with the interchangeable colored buttons and covers.Cell phone appearances advance with their technology. Cell phones used to have buttons, and now many cell phone brands are moving toward touchscreens with endless amounts of features, applications and games that go along with them.Jessica Allen, pre-nursing freshman, said her LG Vu touchscreen cell phone from AT&T is not as easy to use as a regular phone with a keypad.She said it would be harder to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency, especially if she’s not looking at her phone.”[With regular keypad phones], you memorize where the buttons are, and you can feel them,” Allen said. “With touchscreens, you can’t feel them.”But Gretchen LeJeune, Verizon Wireless public relations manager, said touchscreen phones are just as safe as phones with buttons. She said the safety of any cell phone depends on a person’s knowledge and comfort level with it.”The younger generation isn’t intimidated by touchscreens,” LeJeune said. “That’s the real issue is making sure you’re comfortable with the phone you choose.”Sue Sperry, AT&T Louisiana spokesperson, said the iPhone is the leading touchscreen cell phone device.Sperry said iPhone users should choose to have a passcode for their phones. She said when users implement the passcode option, which is password protection for the phone, the screen will give them the option to make an emergency call or enter the passcode.
LeJeune said if BlackBerry phones are in the lock mode, pressing any button will trigger the device to ask if the user needs to make a 9-1-1 call.Jason Bettencourt, LSU Police Department detective, said people should program the local authorities’ phone numbers, like the LSUPD, the Baton Rouge Police Department and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sherriff’s Office, into their phones.”With advanced technology, you have more capability, but you’re limited with the easiness or simplicity with a key pad phone,” Bettencourt said. “When you get a new phone, familiarize yourself with it. The more comfortable you are, the better off you are.”—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]