ABSTRACT
This chapter examines and relates to the overarching power of economics, its language and its practitioners. It attempts this in stages, the first of which involves an evaluation in terms of the more traditional concerns of economists with the market and with income. The chapter focuses on a more familiar anthropological viewpoint, which briefly summarizes and emphasizes the evaluation of the cell phone by the people. It provides possible ways to create a bridge between the stages, starting with a consideration of the writings of Amartya Sen. With regard to Jamaican evaluation, it is clear that the vast majority of Jamaicans regard the cell phone as of considerable benefit, a benefit not isolated to one or two aspects of their lives but of importance to Jamaicans across the board. The overarching evaluations varied from the most local frustration with the technology to the most general statements of the phone as a symbol of modernization.
