From the chart, we can see clearly that in a big city in China, pager users declined abruptly from
281 thousand in June 2002 to 155 thousand in February 2003 and then to 87 thousand in October 2003,
while mobile phones users rose from 7687 thousand and then to 10715 thousand during the same period.
Two reasons, in my mind, can account for the fundamental changes in the communication tools. On the
one hand, the pager, although small and cheap, can no longer meet the needs of modern communication.
On the other hand, as the income level rises up, more and more people can afford a mobile phone and
enjoy the convenience it beings.
Such changes have a significant impact on both individuals and the whole society. For one thing,
with higher quality of communication and wider converage of network, mobile phones play a more and
more important role in improving people's living standard. For another, national communication indu-
stry undergoes sustainable development, which is of great importance to the national economy as a w-
hole. In a word, the change of communication tools is beneficial to both individuals and the whole
society.