One of the most significant and obvious examples of how mobile communication influences our understanding of time and space is how we coordinate with one another. Mobile communication enables us to call specific individuals, not general places. Regardless of location, we are able to make contact with almost anyone, almost anywhere. This advancement has changed, and continues to change, human interaction. Now, instead of agreeing on a particular time well beforehand, we can iteratively work out the most convenient time and place to meet at the last possible moment on the way to the meeting or once we arrive at the destination.
In their early days, mobile devices were primarily used for various types of emergency situations and for work. In some cases, the device was an essential element in various business operations or used so that overseas workers could communicate with their families. The distance between a remote posting and the people back home was suddenly and dramatically reduced. People began to share these devices not necessarily out of economic issues, but also questions of family and interpersonal dynamics.
This cutting-edge book deals with modern ways of thinking about communication and human interaction; it will illuminate the ways in which mobile communication alters our experience with space and time.
Introduction The reconstruction of space and time through mobile communication practices Rich Ling Ling, Rich Scott W. Campbell Campbell, Scott W. 1
1 Tailing untethered mobile users : studying urban mobilities and communication practices Dana Diminescu Diminescu, Dana Christian Licoppe Licoppe, Christian Zbigniew Smoreda Smoreda, Zbigniew Cezary Ziemlicki Ziemlicki, Cezary 17
2 Migrant workers and mobile phones : technological, temporal, and spatial simultaneity Fernando Paragas Paragas, Fernando 39
3 Portable objects in three global cities : the personalization of urban places Mizuko Ito Ito, Mizuko Daisuke Okabe Okabe, Daisuke Ken Anderson Anderson, Ken 67
4 New reasons for mobile communication : intensification of time-space geography in the mobile era Ilkka Arminen Arminen, Ilkka 89
5 Nonverbal cues in mobile phone text messages : the effects of chronemics and proxemics Nicola Doring Doring, Nicola Sandra Poschl Poschl, Sandra 109
6 Mobile phones : transforming the everyday social communication practice of urban youth Eva Thulin Thulin, Eva Bertil Vilhelmson Vilhelmson, Bertil 137
7 Trust, friendship, and expertise : the use of email, mobile dialogues, and SMS to develop and sustain social relations in a distributed work group Tom Erik Julsrud Julsrud, Tom Erik John Willy Bakke Bakke, John Willy 159
8 Negotiations in space : the impact of receiving phone calls on the move Ann Light Light, Ann 191
9 Mobile phone "work" : disengaging and engaging mobile phone activities with concurrent activities Marc Relieu Relieu, Marc 215
10 Beyond the personal and private : modes of mobile phone sharing in urban India Molly Wright SteensonSteenson, Molly Wright Jonathan Donner Donner, Jonathan 231
Conclusion Mobile communication in space and time - furthering the theoretical dialogue Scott W. Campbell Campbell, Scott W. Rich Ling Ling, Rich 251
About the contributors 261
Index 267
Overview
One of the most significant and obvious examples of how mobile communication influences our understanding of time and space is how we coordinate with one another. Mobile communication enables us to call specific individuals, not general places. Regardless of location, we are able to make contact with almost anyone, almost anywhere. This advancement has changed, and continues to change, human interaction. Now, instead of agreeing on a particular time well beforehand, we can iteratively work out the most convenient...