Mobiles and Mobility Internet and Society 2008

Outline A little technology - GSM, 3G, wifi, and convergence Mobile phones, music, gaming, radio, TV…. Own experiences - blog entry? Time and space Presentation of self Micro-coordination of life Public-private Peripatetic working Mobs - towards the political

Technology and industry visions GSM history and technology SMS 3G design Convergence with internet Other wireless/radio  Wifi - computer industry -computer networking  Bluetooth - PAN -  MANs Wireless world Other mobile technologies: Personal ICTs Music, games, computers etc

Own experiences Meanings Life without mobile? Control of communications? Size of phone book? How many mobiles? SMS or Call? Internet or mobile? Simultaneous use Camera? Information services?

pICTs Personal ICTs Usually interpersonal Stress physical nature Link to conventional phone use Don’t usually use ‘virtual’ concept

Studying personal and Domestic Technologies Domestication (e.g.Sørenson)  Practice: what we do with technology  Symbolic: meanings of technology  Integration into everyday life  Appropriation - making our own  Social Consumption Use of technologies  Instrumental/functional  Expressive/affective  Social  Individual

Context of use Physical context inc other techs. Social context E.g. home space, Work organisation Context of time e.g. generation  Adolescents  Students  Older people  Families

History: Diffusion of Mobiles Business and Entrepreneurs Trades and Professions Safety Pay a you go SMS Youth networks % (or greater!) US lags, Japan, Korea, Scandinavia lead. Associated with mobility, work and everyday life spread across multiple locations and on the move.

Meanings of Mobiles How used, giving technology a meaning Identity and Community My life in my mobile Cyborg - extension of body - Handy Own personal space - music, walkman, ipod Constant touch - mobile community Control - my life, others Safety Presentation of self  Design Clothes, jewellery, display  Media cultures Ring tones, logos, personalised ringback What does it mean to you?

Time and Space Break down traditional barriers Home - out of home Office - mobile work Time flexible Coordination Constant touch Integrate with physical communications - transport

Private Spaces: Home Technologies part of ‘moral economy of home’ (Silverstone et al) Part of routines, division of labour, power, local culture New technologies challenge this. Collective use, socially controlled Privatisation of technologies Family relations and the telephone

Public space, private space Private invades Public  Body Language.  Ettiquette.  Manage local and distant. Co-located and virtual Breakdown of F2F (Fortunati, Wellman) Emergence of new cultural practices - national differences Privatisation of public space Public space =>Public Sphere Private networks in public places Or building bridging social capital  Smart mobs…

Public and semi-public Many places are not ‘public’ Control in private-public spaces  Schools, Cinemas,Shops,Meetings  Technical fixes  Social controls - formal and social norms (Stewart paper) Right to communicate New wireless public spaces

Presentation: Micro-coordination Ling and Yttri 2002  Logistical coordination Softening of time Remote care giving Managing work and home boundaries

Hypercoordination Mobiles in adolescent life change Symbolic meanings and presentation of self Economics of teenage ownership Links to parents and peers Managing accessibility Instrumental use Expressive use Boundary management

“Mobile” Work Telework (issues) Peripatetic - work in other people’s spaces Management of space :Car, phone Team working, virtual teams Greedy workplace Integration with Enterprise systems. Blackberry, laptops Clipboard professionals Clipboard trades  Local authorities, builder, health services etc Central control or liberation from office?

Perpetual Contact Virtual co-presence How does it change how we relate to one another? Control of communication  Control or be controlled!

Smart Mobs - social coordination Rheingold Many to many Power to the people Networks and Word of mouth  Philippines, Indonesia revolutions  Petrol strike, WTO  Flashmobs Adhoc networks Swarming, emergence, social coordination New free tools -  Blogs, maps, mail, groups, websites Smart Crowds  Reclaiming public spaces by collective action

Location technology Realtime tracking of other people Finding information on the place you are Leaving virtual tags, labels, signs and messages Maps on mobiles ‘Smart traffic’

Phones and Fags

Developing World

Future technologies Convergence RFID Ubiquitous computing Electronic scent Facebook experiment

Next week Politics  Internet and democracy  Social movements  Internet/mobile and revolution Political Blogs?