Book Description
Cell phones and mobile technologies are omnipresent in everyday life, yet the cultural implications of mobile phones have been neglected. This book aims to fill this gap, providing the first comprehensive, accessible, and international introduction to cell phone culture and theory. It offers a clear yet sophisticated overview of mobile telecommunications, putting the technology in historical and technical context. Cell Phone Culture is a fascinating biography of an important cultural object, that adopts an integrated, multiperspectival approach to the cultural and social shaping of technology. Goggin considers the mobile phone from the standpoint of its history, production, design, consumption, and representation, as well as its deep implication in contemporary media convergence - such as digital photography, mobile blogging, mobile Internet, and mobile television. Interdisciplinary in its conceptual framework, Cell Phone Culture draws on a wide range of national, regional, and internationalexamples, to carefully explore the new forms of consumption and use of communication and media technology that the phenomenon of mobiles represents. Cell Phone Culture also reflects upon the challenges and provocations of mobile phone technology, use, and consumption for doing cultural and media studies today.
Book Description
Wireless networks are the fastest growing communications technology in history. Are mobile phones expressions of identity, fashionable gadgets, tools for life--or all of the above? Mobile Communication and Society looks at how the possibility of multimodal communication from anywhere to anywhere at any time affects everyday life at home, at work, and at school, and raises broader concerns about politics and culture both global and local.
Drawing on data gathered from around the world, the authors explore who has access to wireless technology, and why, and analyze the patterns of social differentiation seen in unequal access. They explore the social effects of wireless communication--what it means for family life, for example, when everyone is constantly in touch, or for the idea of an office when workers can work anywhere. Is the technological ability to multitask further compressing time in our already hurried existence?
The authors consider the rise of a mobile youth culture based on peer-to-peer networks, with its own language of texting, and its own values. They examine the phenomenon of flash mobs, and the possible political implications. And they look at the relationship between communication and development and the possibility that developing countries could "leapfrog" directly to wireless and satellite technology. This sweeping book--moving easily in its analysis from the United States to China, from Europe to Latin America and Africa--answers the key questions about our transformation into a mobile network society.
Customer Reviews:
Good starting point.......2007-09-27
The book provides a global view of mobile communication technologies penetration, adoption and use. It is global because of the widespread deployment of such technologies worldwide, as the authors claim. For that, both qualitative (especially case studies) and quantitative studies are used as a framework to elaborate and reinforce the authors presented arguments.
However, there are many limitations to this view as the study lacks some cross-referenced data to allow comparisons in different contexts in different countries. Further, it sometimes provides a slightly shallow view on a topic, especially when addressing developing countries (allegedly the main focus of the book) where many current trends still have only incipient researches. A reader interested in a deep understanding of economic implications of mobile communication technologies diffusion, for example, would need to dig the book's references and investigate the topic him or herself.
Another issue worth noting is the apparent lack of understanding of some technical fundamental aspects of mobile communications by the authors. In this context, new trends such as the role of technology convergence (through the use of IP networks) are missing and others such as the diffusion of viruses are completely biased (viruses as of this day is still not a threat for mobile devices).
Despite those issues, the authors raise categories (both economical - GDP, pricing systems, technology infrastructure, etc. - and social - age groups, gender, ethnicity, culture, etc.) and trends (collective sharing of mobile phones, prepaid services in poorer communities, the active role of young people, etc.), putting them together in a qualitative perspective that leads to what the authors called the "Mobile Network Society".
Overall, the book allows a fairly broad understanding of the topic and it is a good starting point for any researcher interested in overcome or build on top of the current understanding of this phenomenon.
mobile fluff all the way - from start to end.......2007-01-27
I was very dissapointed by the lack of understanding by the authors of the underlying mobile technology, the market dynamics, and the impact/correlation of the user behavior.
The authors fail to question the data obtained in their research and fail miserably to understand what they are actually stating as the thesis. Example, p117, 3rd paragraph: "At the same time, with the diffusion of smart phones euqipped with 3G or bluetooth technology, mobile-data services have begun to be vulnerable to computer worms and viruses." Unfortunately, the authors have fallen for the sensational news that hit the wires in 2005 that phones are be the next target of viruses; displaying a lack of thorough research in this matter alone. So far, worms and viruses are not a problem as the execution/installation of files is quite protected, ie Symbian OS, etc. I even question the description "3G equipped smart phones" as there also 3G phones that are not considered smart phones, eg non-camera phones.
Additonally, the conclusion, though it is a proven fact that mobile communication proliferation has had and continues to have a large impact on how we communicate, how social interaction as a whole is starting to change, forming not, as incorrectly stated, a subculture, but a connected society as a whole; far exceeding the impact the web has had in the past 10 years.
My recommendation is to leave this publication in the shelf (Mr. Castells' other works on the networked society, though, are a must read!!), save the money and time and conduct a quick google news search on mobile usage. You will get the same value within 30mins.
Book Description
Many wireless systems like GSM, GPRS, UMTS, Bluetooth, WLAN or WiMAX offer possibilities to keep people connected while on the move. In this flood of technology and claims that one single resource will serve all our needs, this book seeks to enable readers to examine and understand each technology, and how to utilise several different systems for the best results.
Communication Systems for the Mobile Information Society not only contains a technical description of the different wireless systems available today, but also explains the thoughts that are behind the different mechanisms and implementations; not only the 'how' but also the 'why' is in focus. Thus the advantages and also limitations of each technology become apparent.
- Provides readers with a solid introduction to major global wireless standards and compares the different wireless technologies and their applications
- Describes the different systems based on the standards, their practical implementation and the design assumptions that were made
- The performance and capacity of each system in practice is analyzed and explained, accompanied with practical tips on how to discover the functionality of different networks by the readers themselves
- Questions at the end of each chapter and answers on the accompanying website make this book ideal for self study or as course material
- Illustrated with many realistic examples of how mobile people can stay in touch with other people, the Internet and their corporate intranet
This book is an essential resource for telecommunication engineers, professionals and computer science and electrical engineering students who want to get a thorough end-to-end understanding of the different technical concepts of the systems on the market today.
Customer Reviews:
A great book about wireless technologies.......2006-11-11
If you're looking for a book that provides an overview as well as the details about wireless communication technologies, you should buy this one.
On the one hand, the first few sections of each chapter provide an overview of each technology discussed. They provide a great introduction to the technology and gives a good comparison to the previously covered technologies, so that one doesn't meld into another and all you're left with is a haze of acronyms. If the details are not interesting to you, then you can skip the details and move on to the next chapter.
If the details are interesting or important, then the book does a great job of delving into the intricacies of the technologies as well. The information is well researched and presented in a way that does not have you rereading the sections several times. Its very comprehensible. Its a great resource to have around if you're interested in this subject area.
If only extended to CDMA2000 and 1xEV-DO, do WLAN justice, and some minor tweaks........2006-10-24
This is a well written book. The content is sound. I found few typos. I feel the author did his due diligence but would have preferred if he extended it to cover CDMA2000 and 1xEV-DO (only a brief mention) in the same detail as UMTS and HSPDA. I also felt a little slighted with the WLAN coverage. Given the detail and focus provided to the other technologies, I thought the WLAN coverage was simplified and that it was not properly integrated - as a matter of format - with the other technologies discussed.
I also think the book would have benefited from a brief introduction of redundant issues (handover, paging, authentication, etc) and then expounded on the unique attributes of these objects for each technology. In some instances there was reference to prior coverage; in other instances it just seemed monotonous. At the very least, I believe the author should have provided the reader with a chapter/header template with a brief explanation of the rationale for the layout of the book. It would have gone a long way toward framing the overall context for the reader.
On a more positive note, I would have to commend the author on his consistency of detail with most of the book. The writing is very linear and clear, to the extent that I found it unnecessary to check figures against the text to determine meaning. The text made sense on its own. The figures are helpful for reference, but are not necessarily needed to explain what you just read. The book is on the high-end of the price scale, but overall, I think it is a good read and is worth it.
Book Description
Has the cell phone forever changed the way people communicate? The mobile phone is used for real time coordination while on the run, adolescents use it to manage their freedom, and teens text to each other day and night. The mobile phone is more than a simple technical innovation or social fad, more than just an intrusion on polite society. This book, based on world-wide research involving tens of thousands of interviews and contextual observations, looks into the impact of the phone on our daily lives. The mobile phone has fundamentally affected our accessibility, safety and security, coordination of social and business activities, and use of public places.
Based on research conducted in dozens of countries, this insightful and entertaining book examines the once unexpected interaction between humans and cell phones, and between humans, period. The compelling discussion and projections about the future of the telephone should give designers everywhere a more informed practice and process, and provide researchers with new ideas to last years.
*Rich Ling (an American working in Norway) is a prominent researcher, interviewed in the new technology article in the November 9 issue of the New York Times Magazine.
*A particularly "good read", this book will be important to the designers, information designers, social psychologists, and others who will have an impact on the development of the new third generation of mobile telephones.
*Carefully and wittily written by a senior research scientist at Telenor, Norway's largest telecommunications company, and developer of the first mobile telephone system that allowed for international roaming.
Download Description
Can the cell phone forever change the way people communicate? The mobile phone is more than simply a technical innovation or a social fad, more than just an intrusion on polite society. This book, based on worldwide research involving tens of thousands of interviews and contextual observations, looks into the impact of the phone on our daily lives, including changes in our accessibility, safety and security, coordination, and use of public places. Based on research done in many countries, the book examines the once unexpected interaction between humans and cell phones, and between humans, period: how the mobile phone is used for "real time" coordination while on the run, how adolescents use it to manage their freedom, and how teens "text" to each other day and night without discovery.
Book Description
The Japanese term for mobile phone, keitai (roughly translated as "something you carry with you"), evokes not technical capability or freedom of movement but intimacy and portability, defining a personal accessory that allows constant social connection. Japan's enthusiastic engagement with mobile technology has become--along with anime, manga, and sushi--part of its trendsetting popular culture. Personal, Portable, Pedestrian, the first book-length English-language treatment of mobile communication use in Japan, covers the transformation of keitai from business tool to personal device for communication and play.
The essays in this groundbreaking collection document the emergence, incorporation, and domestication of mobile communications in a wide range of social practices and institutions. The book first considers the social, cultural, and historical context of keitai development, including its beginnings in youth pager use in the early 1990s. It then discusses the virtually seamless integration of keitai use into everyday life, contrasting it to the more escapist character of Internet use on the PC. Other essays suggest that the use of mobile communication reinforces ties between close friends and family, producing "tele-cocooning" by tight-knit social groups. The book also discusses mobile phone manners and examines keitai use by copier technicians, multitasking housewives, and school children. Personal, Portable, Pedestrian describes a mobile universe in which networked relations are a pervasive and persistent fixture of everyday life.
Customer Reviews:
an extraordinarily important collection.......2006-09-07
If you work in the mobile communications space and you aren't Japanese, you probably ought to have a copy of this book. It provides a wealth of data and references on Japanese mobile phone use that have been hidden behind the language barrier for too long. (NB: This is sociology and anthropology data we're talking about, not marketing data. It's data about how people do things and think about things, not how many widgets they bought last year.) Mimi Ito has done the community (particularly the research community) a huge service by getting this collection published.
you can read for sociology or business.......2005-09-17
In Japan and Europe, cellphone usage is higher than in the United States. Thus to an American reader, this book can be interesting on several levels. Perhaps as a sociological commentary on how Japanese society has accepted and accomodated the pervasive use of the phones. To an extent not currently seen in much of the US, except possibly amongst teenagers in large cities. The book is a fascinating read of how quickly an technological item has become part of the fabric in Japan. The passages on phone etiquette also suggest what might also eventuate here.
On a business level, the book can be used for ideas into future usages, in Japan or elsewhere. If you are trying to find a novel business involving cellphones, it helps to study a society that has taken them further.
Great Content! A little hard to read.......2005-09-07
I have been fascinated by cell phone adoption in Japan for some time. This is a very well researched book on the topic, but it reads just like a boring college text book. This could be due to the fact it was translated from Japanese, but don't let this stop you from buying it.
Book Description
Although the Internet takes us everywhere in cyberspace, it usually requires us to be seated behind a desk. In contrast, the cellphone lets us walk through the world, fully connected. Cellphone explores the history of mobility in media--from books to cameras to transistor radios to laptops--and examines the unique impact of a device that sits in a pocket or palm, and lets us converse by voice or text. The restricting and liberating edge of accessibility transforms restaurants, public transport, automobiles, romance, literacy, parent-child relationships, war, and indeed all walks of life, trivial and profound. Like an organic cell that moves, evolves, combines with other cells, and generates, the cellphone has become a complex sparkplug of human life.
Customer Reviews:
Good book but not what I had in mind........2007-06-12
Paul Levinson is a gifted writer in my opinion. He has a lively style and conveys his ideas very effectively. When I bought this book, I thought (for some reason) that I was buying a book that recounted the development and technical characteristics of this powerful new media (the cellphone). It turned out that the book is devoted to the possibilities and potential of the cellphone along with some of the situations you are likely to encounter while using it. It compares the cellphone with other means of communication (mainly the computer with Internet access and the regular telephone) plus it presents some historical background on all these means of communication that preceded the cellphone. In the end, I am still glad that I bought and read this book.
Clear, concise examination of cellphones in society........2006-09-26
A clear and approachable historical study of the impact of cellphones on society and culture, Levinson's text is an strong contribution to an emerging field of research. Although it is in some respects, tainted by the author's personal status, this also allows him to use his real world examples to paint a clear picture of what it is like to live in a world where you can always make contact with others, but can also always be contacted.
This is not to suggest that the text is in any way deficient in theory or research, which is woven carefully throughout the text, accompanied by an annotated and accessible Bibliography. At times it would have been helpful for referencing to be in-text, although his does digress where appropriate and helpful in-text. Levinson's strongest appeal is that we need to consider cultural relations around cellphone use (such as accepting the desire to ignore incoming calls) and not just legislate around them. This is an important point to consider, in societies where camera and video phones can be carried and used almost anywhere, provoking not just a degree of freedom, but public and private fears around invasions of privacy.
Thoroughly readable and filled with some wonderful imagry and creative language, Levinson's "Cellphone" is an important contribution in a time when technology is increasingly mobilising throughout our lives.
Clueless history of technology irrelevant to real world of cellphone.......2006-02-09
This book disappoints severely. Usually Levinson is well on target, but in this book he clearly misses the mark. His examples are massively out of date - in Israel the cellphone penetration was not 75% in 2004, back in 2003 it was 105%, etc etc etc. Levinson has taken a considerable knowledge of change in technology and then applied sloppy research and bad examples to the world of cellphones. Here in Singapore we are also in the over 100% penetration rates for cellphones, and several excellent books about the real impact of cellphones - such as Rheingold's Smart Mobs, Ahonen's m-Profits and Kopomaa's City in the Pocket will give you much more than this. What is most annoying, is that the book is mostly so badly off its topic.
I do not recommend this to anyone, not even fans of Levinson. Reading this book will guide you wrong. Luckily there are ample better books about the real world of cellphones. Don't buy it.
Levinson is a McLuhan for the 21st Century.......2006-01-27
A comprehensive look at the jangling god that rules our lives. Levinson knows exactly what he's talking about, and his insights ring true (if you'll forgive the pun). There's a reason CNN, the Wall Steet Journal, and the New York Times keep turning to this guy for commentary. Anybody who's reading Stephen King's new novel CELL will find this a fascinating companion volume. About the only complaint I have is that this book deserved a much better cover.
Boring, myopic and uninformed.......2005-06-17
Now for a book that's 180 pages long, it's BORING. This guy can ramble. And despite this he says very little in each page. It could all have been more succinct in 100 pages. He clearly knows a little about a lot about the phone but this book manages to avoid being coherent. Next he seems to write to serve the purpose of the title ensuring to find the cons in any other form of media he can bring up even if he contradicts his point by basically just describing exceptions to what his point was, while trying desperately to find pros in cellphones each and every time. These cons include computers, the internet, and blogging. These are all topics about which the viewpoint is misinformed and skewed and lacking. The book falls flat with padding from the start and apart from some info, it's generally not worth it.
Book Description
The idea of an 'eternal India', based on stable and unchanging villages, has been in disarray for at least two decades. This volume sets out to construct an alternative positive vision, using the idea of 'circulation' in relation to South Asia in the colonial period. It comprises a set of complementary essays which deal with merchant circulation, pilgrimages, cartography, policing, labour mobility, and the movement of itinerant groups - from colonial administrators to wandering bards - and demonstrates that the South Asia of this period was made and remade by changing patterns and the logic of circulation. This book will not only interest South Asianists but also those interested in historical method as well as wider comparative perspectives on early modern and contemporary history.
Book Description
Global instantaneous mobile telephony is at the cutting edge of the communications revolution. Humanity, for Martin Heidegger, is 'the entity that talks'; Jurgen Habermas is a passionate advocate of authentic human interaction.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting mix of popular culture and philosophy.......2006-05-03
This is one of my favorite books. It is a slim little book but manages to raise important questions about communication, cell phone culture, and (post)modern society. I found the writing style to be clear and lucid, more "English" than "American." I think it is unfair to expect of this book an elucidation of Habermas and Heidegger (especially Heidegger) when its goal is to ambitiously apply the theory of these two philosophers to the world of cell phones. I applaud the author for bringing philosophy to pop culture, and vice versa. Myerson makes many good points and I heartily recommend this book, which has much to offer the questionable society we are living in. This little book is also a cautionary tale about the visit to Starbucks as the epitome of communication and civilization which, unfortunately, most of us are not heeding. But I give Myerson credit for trying. Working in more of Buber's I/Thou, I/It philosophy would have taken Myerson's argument to the next level.
Good, short, concrete introduction to Heidegger and Habermas.......2001-04-12
This is really a very useful book in introducing some central concepts of Heidegger's philosophy and Habermas' social theory as they bear on the frantically growing domain of information-technology-mediated and mobile life, experience, and communication, through a critique of the ideology surrounding the marketing and diffusion of mobile phones (meaning not just cellular phones but especially Internet-capable phones and devices). Myerson uses as his text both marketing literature and newspaper stories about mobile phones and the kind of communication that they are intended for and promote, criticizing them through presenting the alternate models of communication, meaning, and understanding that are central to the work of Heidegger and Habermas in such a way that a reader with no prior acquaintance with these two thinkers could get the gist of what they are trying to do with their thought, and makes Habermas' conception of communication as sharing understanding and meaning and Habermas' distinction between system and lifeworld seem graspable and concretely relevant in terms that everyone has already experienced. He includes an appendix with a brief introductory bibliography for anyone wanting to learn more about these two H's. The book is also extremely short, really it is the length of a magazine article and could be read in an hour or two: the main text is 67 pages long, each of which contains no more than half the amount of print in a standard book. The one critique that one can make of this book is that like other kinds of critiques of ideology, it takes the ideology of mobile phones (e.g. Nokia's self-description of the nature and future of mobile phones) at face value, without paying attention to the ways in which people are often a lot smarter and socially savvy than corporations and advertisers take them to be, and often bend to their own lifeworld purposes and social meanings the devices and methods that are marketed under the ideology of instrumental and efficient communication and behavior. But for a quick, useful introduction to Heidegger and Habermas and a quick critical perspective on the emergent wired world, this book does a very good job.
Books:
- Class Act: William Haines Legendary Hollywood Decorator
- Conversations with God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1)
- Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts
- Culture and Values, Volume II: A Survey of the Humanities (with CD-ROM) (Culture & Values)
- Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts
- Don Troiani's Soldiers of the American Revolution
- Esquire The Meaning of Life: Wit, Wisdom, and Wonder from 65 Extraordinary People
- Fingerprint: The Art of Using Handmade Elements in Graphic Design
- Firefox Hacks: Tips & Tools for Next-Generation Web Browsing (Hacks)
- For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- On The Wealth of Nations
- Dynamic General Equilibrium Modelling: Computational Methods and Applications
- Behold the Beauty of the Lord
- Colloquial Slovak CD: The Complete Course for Beginners
- Building Thinking Skills-Book 1
- Handbook of Flavor Ingredients, Volume II
- Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants of Minnesota & Wisconsin
- Financial Decisions in Emerging Markets
- Accounting Principles And Concepts: An Analytical Approach
- Dale Brown's Dreamland: Satan's Tail
Culture
| Business & Culture
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
| Books
Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective (Information Revolution and Global Politics)
The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication
Magic in the Air: Mobile Communication and the Transformation of Social Life
Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide
