Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Dr Sadie Plant
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Dr Sadie Plant
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credits contents
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preface on behalf of Motorola
23
introduction
29
rituals
36
contexts
40
men, women and mobile displays
47
speeches
55
emotions
61
mobile minds
66
an allegorical illustration
69
a sociological explanation
74
mobile geopolitics in the 21st century
77
appendix I
cross-cultural observations
80
appendix II
textperanto: notes on mobile telephones and language
83
index
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about the author
86
Photography: Dr Sadie Plant (except pp 4, 6, 8, 11-12 Drew Jarrett) acknowledgements
on the mobile on the mobile
preface introduction
page 22 page 23
a note on locations
Mobile phones have made their presence felt in almost every
region of the world. They are particularly popular in South
East Asia, where the long-standing popularity of pagers
meant that a nascent mobile culture was already in place
when the mobile phone arrived. Even in the mid-1990s,
Saigon’s more affluent teenagers were calling their friends
Things could hardly be more different in Peshawar,
from the city’s new bars and cafes. In Hong Kong, it is
the capital of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province,
difficult to find anyone without a mobile phone. In Bangkok,
which lies on the border of Afghanistan and is home to many
where little more than five per cent of the population owns
Afghan refugees. In Peshawar, mobiles tend to belong to
a mobile, the city is alive to the sights and sounds of mobility.
people engaged in business, politics, or war, and although
While mobiles are owned by less than seven per cent increasingly popular with students and young professionals,
of the Chinese population, they are common on the streets their use is still low.
of cities like Shanghai and even more conservative Beijing.
Further West, the mobile phone has been welcomed by
China is projected to be the world’s largest mobile market
much of the Arab world. In Lebanon, which now has an
within the next couple of years and, as has long been
efficient land-line telephone system, the mobile received
the case in Hong Kong, teenagers, students and young
an early boost with the collapse of the fixed-line phone
people are already some of the country’s most frequent
system during the civil war. Elsewhere, long distances
and enthusiastic mobile users. Mobiles are less common
and harsh environments have often made the mobile
in the Chinese countryside, where they often remain in the
a valuable alternative to the fixed-line system. Growth rates
hands of a favoured few entrepreneurs and party officials.
in Egypt and Morocco are among the highest in the world;
Of the many places in which mobiles have become and mobiles are extremely popular in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman
widespread, Tokyo must be the city in which they have and several other states in the Arabian Gulf. In the United
become the most conspicuous. Their popularity has been Arab Emirates, more than 50 per cent of the population use
encouraged by the fact that many people live and commute a mobile. The figures are far higher in the oil-rich city
in confined spaces, which makes them reluctant to own of Dubai, where many Arab nationals have time and money
or carry something as large and heavy as a laptop, but on their hands, and have become enthusiastic and
delighted to pocket a small, light, multifunctional keitai. demanding consumers of the latest, smallest, coolest
The mobile is often people’s primary means of accessing phones. Mobiles are also ubiquitous among Dubai’s large
the internet, and has become integral to so many aspects population of ex-patriot workers, including the sailors,
of everyday life that its absence seems almost unimaginable. porters, merchants and smugglers who work on Dubai creek.
on the mobile on the mobile
introduction chapter 1
page 28 page 29
rituals
contexts
speeches
emotions
mobile minds
an allegorical illustration
a sociological analysis
appendix I
cross-cultural observations
appendix II
textperanto: notes on mobiles and language
keywords
approximeeting 61, 64
bi-psyche 50
flight 31, 32
gooseberry calls 30
gooseberry phone 30
hima tsubushi 62
innies 32
one call 64
Texting shorthands such as cul8r and IDK are in circulation, outies 32, 33
but many of the most innovative Chinese shorthands involve
oya yubi sedai 53
numbers, which are already steeped in mythical associations
and are now assuming a new significance. Spoken in persistence 31
Mandarin, and with a little imagination, 521 means ‘I love
phone-shield 62
you’, and 531 means ‘I miss you’. 478 is a curse (drop dead,
or damn you) in some contexts and an affectionate gesture shagbile 55
amongst friends. A written joke which has done the rounds
speakeasy 51, 71
also focuses on the pronunciation of numbers. Do you have
a good Mandarin accent? If so, read this aloud: 52525252. stage-phoning 49
Those who do so find themselves barking like a dog
suspension 31
(52 would be akin to ‘woof’).
textperts 53
But while English is a common lingua franca, it is by no
means the only one. When people from different linguistic the calm dove 66
backgrounds communicate by way of text, the search
the chattering sparrow 67
for the most dense and efficient texts often results in novel
combinations of borrowed words and modified codes. the firm grip 52
Birmingham’s Pakistani teenagers send messages using
the flashy peacock 67
fusions of Caribbean, Punjabi, and SMS slang: Yo, kidda,
ruOK? Such mixed messages are likely to become more the fox 62, 78
common as texting spreads, and may even point to the
the gaze 53
emergence of localised hybrid languages: new textperantos
for the mobile age. the gentle touch 53
on the mobile on the mobile
index about the author
page 84 page 85
acknowledgements