Thumb Culture: The Meaning Of Mobile Phones For Society

Description

Mobile communication has an increasing impact on people's lives and society. Ubiquitous media influence the way users relate to their surroundings, and data services like text and pictures lead to a culture shaped by thumbs. Representing several years of research into the social and cultural effects of mobile phone use, this volume assembles the fascinating approaches and new insights of leading scientists and practitioners. The book contains the results of a first international survey on the social consequences of mobile phones. It provides a comprehensive inventory of today's issues and an outlook in mobile media, society and their future study. Cover Thumb Culture......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Foreword......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 Section One—Cultural Identities......Page 22 Is the cell phone undermining the social order? Understanding mobile technology from a sociological perspective......Page 24 The social and economic implications of mobile telephony in Rwanda: An ownership/access typology......Page 38 Postal presence: A case study of mobile customisation and gender in Melbourne......Page 54 The age of the thumb: A cultural reading of mobile technologies from Asia......Page 68 Communication problems......Page 90 From teenage life to Victorian morals and back: Technological change and teenage life......Page 102 Section Two—Mobile Personalities......Page 116 Emotional attachment and mobile phones......Page 118 The mobile phone and the dynamic between private and public communication: Results of an international exploratory study......Page 124 The role of interspace in sustaining identity......Page 138 The mobile phone as technological artefact......Page 150 The mobile telephone as a return to unalienated communication......Page 162 Mobile communication and the transformation of daily life: The next phase of research on mobiles......Page 172 Section Three—Industry Perspectives......Page 184 Facing the future, changing customer needs......Page 186 Loading mobile phones in a multi-option society......Page 190 Mobile mania, mobile manners......Page 200 Your life in snapshots: Mobile weblogs (moblogs)......Page 212 Designing the future: Fables from the mobile telecoms industry......Page 226 The future of mobile in the 3G era......Page 236 Mythology and mobile data......Page 252 Conclusion—Delphi Report......Page 260 People, mobiles and society. Concluding insights from an international expert survey......Page 262 Notes on Contributors......Page 290