Wireless World: Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age

232 Pages·2002·10.982 MB·English

by  Barry Brown (auth.), Barry Brown, Nicola Green, Richard Harper (eds.)

Computer Supported Cooperative Work
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Barry Brown, Nicola Green
and Richard Harper (Eds)
Wireless World
Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age
With 14 Figures
BCS
6
' Springer
Barry Brown
HP Labs, Filton Road, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 8QZ
Nicola Green
Richard Harper
Digital World Research Centre, School of Human Sciences, University of
Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH
Series Editors
Dan Diaper, PhD, MBCS
Head, Department of Computing, School of Design, Engineering and Computing,
Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB, UK
Colston Sanger
Shottersley Research Limited, Little Shottersley, Farnham Lane
Haslemere, Surrey GU27 IHA, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wireless world: social and interactional aspects of the mobile age 1 Barry Brown, Nicola Green,
and Richard Harper (eds.).
p. cm. - (Computer supported cooperative work, ISSN 14311496)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-85233-477-2 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4471-0665-4
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4471-0665-4
1. Telephone, Wireless-Social aspects-History. 2. Wireless communication systems-Social
aspects-History. I. Brown, Barry, 1972-11. Green, Nicola. III. Harper, Richard, 1960-IV. Series.
HE9713 .W575 2001
303.48'33-dc21 2001042667
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review,
as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be
reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in
writing of the publishers, or i,n the case of repro graphic reproduction in accordance with the
terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
ISBN-13: 978-1-85233-477-2 Springer-Verlag London Berlin Heidelberg
a member of BertelsmannSpringer Science+Business Media GmbH
http://www.springer.co. uk
© Springer-Verlag London Limited 2002
The use of registered names, trademarks etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the
absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant laws and regula
tions and therefore free for general use.
The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the
information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any
errors or omissions that may be made.
Typesetting: Gray Publishing, Tunbridge Wells, UK.
34/3830-543210 SPIN 10834346
Contents
List of Contributors .....................•.•....................... ix
Part 1 Introduction ............................................. 1
1 Studying the Use of Mobile Technology
Barry Brown ................................................. 3
1.1 Introduction ............................................. 3
1.2 Understanding the Technology ............................. 5
1.3 Tracing the Non-development of the Mobile Phone ............. 7
1.4 Understanding the Technology in Use ........ , .............. 10
1.5 Overview of the Book .................................... 11
Notes .................................................. 14
References .............................................. 14
Part 2 Locating Mobile Technology .............................. 17
2 The Mutable Mobile: Social Theory in the Wireless World
Geoff Cooper ................................................ 19
2.1 Introduction ............................................ 19
2.2 Transparency, Visibility, Audibility .......................... 20
2.3 Conjuctions of Remote and Co-present Interaction ............ 21
2.4 Mobility and Location .................................... 24
2.5 Being Available .......................................... 27
2.6 Conclusion: Mobile Theory. ............................... 29
Notes .................................................. 30
References .............................................. 31
3 Who's Watching Whom? Monitoring and Accountability in
Mobile Relations
Nicola Green ................................................ 32
3.1 Introduction ............................................ 32
3.2 Surveillance and Mobile Technologies ....................... 33
3.3 Who's Watching Whom? .................................. 38
3.4 Surveillance and Accountability ............................ 42
Notes ......... , ........................................ 44
References .............................................. 44
v
vi Wireless World
4 The Region as a Socio-Technical Accomplishment of
Mobile Workers
Eric Laurier .................................................. 46
4.1 Introduction ............................................ 46
4.2 Pre-assembled Parts ..................................... 48
4.3 Assembling a Mobile Office ............................... 48
4.4 Boundary Work ......................................... 53
4.5 Out of a Mobile Office .................................... 56
4.6 Broken Parts ............................................ 57
4.7 Summing up a Region .................................... 58
Notes .................................................. 60
References .............................................. 60
5 Mobile Communications in the Twenty-first Century City
Anthony M Townsend ......................................... 62
5.1 Introduction: The Arrival of Mass Mobile Communications
in the City .............................................. 62
5.2 Object and Self-Personal Relationships with
Mobile Telephones ....................................... 67
5.3 City and System ......................................... 70
5.4 Conclusions: Rethinking the City ........................... 72
Notes .................................................. 76
References .............................................. 76
Part 3 From Ethnography to Use .............•................... 79
6 Seeing the "Rules": Preliminary Observations of Action,
Interaction and Mobile Phone Use
Ged M Murtagh .............................................. 81
6.1 Introduction ............................................ 81
6.2 Analytical Background ................................... 81
6.3 Ethnomethodology, Technology and Situated Practice ......... 82
6.4 Rules, Social Action and Technology Use: The Case of
Air Traffic Control ....................................... 83
6.5 Displaying the 'Rules' .................................... 84
6.6 Non-vocal Responses ..................................... 84
6.7 Body Movements ........................................ 85
6.8 The Unanswered Phone .................................. 86
6.9 Other Common Sense Considerations ....................... 87
6.10 Time .................................................. 88
6.11 Conversational Topic ..................................... 88
6.12 Future Research and Future Technology: The Issue of Design ... 89
6.13 Conclusion ............................................. 90
Notes .................................................. 91
References .............................................. 91
Wireless World vii
7 Local Use and Sharing of Mobile Phones
Alexandra Weilenmann and Catrine Larsson ...................... 92
7.1 Introduction ............................................ 92
7.2 Mobile Phone Research ................................... 93
7.3 In the Field ............................................. 94
7 A Sharing of Mobile Phones ................................. 95
7.5 Discussion ............................................ 102
Notes ................................................. 106
References ............................................. 106
8 Running and Grimacing: The Struggle for Balance in Mobile Work
John Sherry and Tony Salvador ................................ 108
8.1 Introduction ........................................... 108
8.2 Intel's Architecture Labs and Mobile Technologies ............ 109
8.3 The Technological Imperative: ''Anytime, Anywhere
Computing" ........................................... 113
804 Access to Other People .................................. 114
8.5 Awareness and Coordination ............................. 115
8.6 Creating Information. ................................... 117
8.7 Conclusion ............................................ 118
Notes ................................................. 119
References ............................................. 120
9 Blurring the Boundaries: Cell Phones, Mobility, and the Line
between Work and Personal Life
Diana Gant and Sara Kiesler .................................. 121
9.1 Introduction ........................................... 121
9.2 The Social Meaning and Influence of Settings ............... 121
9.3 One-person, One-number: The Trial of a Personal Phone ...... 123
904 Results ................................................ 124
9.5 Conclusions ........................................... 129
References ............................................. 131
Part 4 From Use to Design ....•......•......................... 133
10 Welcome to the Wireless World: Problems Using and
Understanding Mobile Telephony
Leysia Palen and Marilyn Salzman ............................. 135
10.1 Introduction ........................................... 135
10.2 Related Work .......................................... 136
10.3 Method of Study ....................................... 136
lOA Findings: Attributes of Wireless Telephony .................. 139
10.5 Conclusions ........................................... 151
References ............................................. 153
viii Wireless World
11 Framing Mobile Collaborations and Mobile Technologies
Elizabeth F Churchill and Nina Wakeford ........................ 154
11.1 Introduction ........................................... 154
11.2 Creating the Consumption of Mobile Devices ............... 156
11.3 Understanding Representations of Mobile Workers ........... 161
11.4 Understanding the Practice of Mobile Work ................. 164
11.5 Broadening the Concept of Mobile Work:
Reflections on Fieldwork ................................. 172
11.6 Putting it all Together: Design Frameworks for
Collaboration on the Move ............................... 173
11.7 Conclusions and Summary ............................... 176
Notes ................................................. 177
References ............................................. 177
12 Exploring the Relationship between Mobile Phone and Document
Activity during Business Travel
Kenton O'Hara, Mark Perry, Abigail Sellen and Barry Brown ........ 180
12.1 Introduction ........................................... 180
12.2 Our Approach .......................................... 180
12.3 Previous Research ...................................... 181
12.4 The Study ............................................. 181
12.5 Findings .............................................. 183
12.6 Implications for Mobile Technologies ...................... 192
12.7 Conclusion ............................................ 194
Notes ................................................. 194
References ............................................. 194
13 Usability of Portable Devices: The Case of WAP
Vincent Helyar .............................................. 195
13.1 Introduction ........................................... 195
13.2 Usability .............................................. 196
13.3 User Perceptions of a First Generation WAP Service .......... 196
13.4 Results ................................................ 198
13.5 The Right Approach to Portability ......................... 200
13.6 Conclusion ............................................ 205
References ............................................. 206
14 The Mobile Interface: Old Technologies and New Arguments
Richard Harper ............................................. 207
14.1 Introduction ........................................... 207
14.2 Current Forms of the Interface ............................ 209
14.3 Radical Form Factors ................................... 215
14.4 User Perceptions of the Mobile Interface .................... 218
14.5 Interfaces to Social Process ............................... 220
14.6 Conclusions ........................................... 223
References ............................................. 223
Index""""", .. ·,""""',.,""""""""""'",.,,227
list of Contributors
Barry Brown
Department of Computer Science, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Elizabeth F Churchill
FX Palo Alto Laboratory Inc
Geoff Cooper
Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, England
Diana Gant
Indiana University, USA
Nicola Green
Digital World Research Centre, University of Surrey, England
Richard Harper
Digital World Research Centre, University of Surrey, England
Vincent Helyar
Serco Usability Services, London, England
Sara Kiesler
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
Catrine Larsson
Viktoria Institute, G6teborg, Sweden
Eric Laurier
Department of Geography, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Ged M Murtagh
Digital World Research Centre, University of Surrey, England
Kenton O'Hara
The Appliance Studio, Bristol, England
ix
x Wireless World
Leysia Palen
University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Mark Perry
Dept of Information Systems and Computing, BruneI University, Bristol,
England
Tony Salvador
Intel Corporation, USA
Marilyn Salzman
us
WEST Advanced Technologies
Abigail Sellen
Hewlett-Packard Research Labs, Bristol, England
John Sherry
Intel Corporation, USA
Anthony M Townsend
Taub Urban Research Center, New York University, USA
Nina Wakeford
Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, England
Alexandra Weilenmann
Viktoria Institute, Goteborg, Sweden