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Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies

PUBLISHER MIT Press (05/01/2008)
PRODUCT TYPE Hardcover (Hardcover)

Description

Experts analyze how mobile communication is changing daily life and local culture around the world, in both industrialized and developing countries.

Mobile communication has become mainstream and even omnipresent. It is arguably the most successful and certainly the most rapidly adopted new technology in the world: more than one of every three people worldwide possesses a mobile phone. This volume offers a comprehensive view of the cultural, family, and interpersonal consequences of mobile communication across the globe. Leading scholars analyze the effect of mobile communication on all parts of life, from the relationship between literacy and the textual features of mobile phones to the use of ringtones as a form of social exchange, from the "aspirational consumption" of middle class families in India to the belief in parts of Africa and Asia that mobile phones can communicate with the dead. The contributors explore the ways mobile communication profoundly affects the tempo, structure, and process of daily life around the world. They discuss the impact of mobile communication on social networks, other communication strategies, traditional forms of social organization, and political activities. They consider how quickly miraculous technologies come to seem ordinary and even necessary--and how ordinary technology comes to seem mysterious and even miraculous. The chapters cut across social issues and geographical regions; they highlight use by the elite and the masses, utilitarian and expressive functions, and political and operational consequences. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate how mobile communication has affected the quality of life in both exotic and humdrum settings, and how it increasingly occupies center stage in people's lives around the world.

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Product Format
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780262113120
ISBN-10: 0262113120
Binding: Hardback or Cased Book (Sewn)
Content Language: English
More Product Details
Page Count: 472
Carton Quantity: 18
Product Dimensions: 7.40 x 1.15 x 9.14 inches
Weight: 2.04 pound(s)
Feature Codes: Bibliography, Index, Dust Cover, Price on Product, Table of Contents, Illustrated
Country of Origin: US
Subject Information
BISAC Categories
Technology & Engineering | Social Aspects
Technology & Engineering | Mobile & Wireless Communications
Technology & Engineering | Anthropology - Cultural & Social
Grade Level: College Freshman and up
Dewey Decimal: 303.483
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007001992
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
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Experts analyze how mobile communication is changing daily life and local culture around the world, in both industrialized and developing countries.

Mobile communication has become mainstream and even omnipresent. It is arguably the most successful and certainly the most rapidly adopted new technology in the world: more than one of every three people worldwide possesses a mobile phone. This volume offers a comprehensive view of the cultural, family, and interpersonal consequences of mobile communication across the globe. Leading scholars analyze the effect of mobile communication on all parts of life, from the relationship between literacy and the textual features of mobile phones to the use of ringtones as a form of social exchange, from the "aspirational consumption" of middle class families in India to the belief in parts of Africa and Asia that mobile phones can communicate with the dead. The contributors explore the ways mobile communication profoundly affects the tempo, structure, and process of daily life around the world. They discuss the impact of mobile communication on social networks, other communication strategies, traditional forms of social organization, and political activities. They consider how quickly miraculous technologies come to seem ordinary and even necessary--and how ordinary technology comes to seem mysterious and even miraculous. The chapters cut across social issues and geographical regions; they highlight use by the elite and the masses, utilitarian and expressive functions, and political and operational consequences. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate how mobile communication has affected the quality of life in both exotic and humdrum settings, and how it increasingly occupies center stage in people's lives around the world.

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Editor: Katz, James E.
Dr James Katz is the author of several books in the field of technology and society. With Philip Aspden and Ronald E. Rice, he is the co-author of a book about the social impact of the Internet on life in America, to be published by MIT Press. His 1999 book, Connections: Social and Cultural Studies of the Telephone in American Life, was included in the 37th Outstanding Academic Titles award, given by the American Library Association's journal Choice. Another of his books, Congress and Natural Energy Policy, was nominated for the American Political Science Association Gladys Kammerer prize for best political science publication in 1984. In 2000, he won the Rutgers Department of Communication Researcher of the year award. Katz has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles; his works have been translated into five languages and re-published in numerous edited collections. He earned his Ph.D. in 1974 from Rutgers; in 1997, he joined its department of communication as professor. In between those years he won postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and MIT, served on the faculties of the University of Texas, Austin and Clarkson University, and headed the social science research unit at Bell Communication Research (Bellcore). He was also granted national and foreign patents on his inventions in telecommunication technology. The national electronic media frequently interview Katz; and he has appeared on numerous network news programs. He has been quoted on the front-pages of leading newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and USA Today. He serves on the boards of several leading social science journals and charitable and educational foundations. His teaching and research interests include research methods, the social aspects of communication technology, the contest between privacy and publicity on the Internet, and of course mobile communication and computing.
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Your Price  $9.89
Hardcover