Bell and McLelland
In Bell's article, she discusses what she calls "the age of the thumb" which explains the enormous use of SMS technology in Asia, specifically in China. Bell continues to explain why China uses more SMS functions than the US which she says is in the language differences. Because of the characters used in Chinese languages, it is easier to write more words in a single text message than it is in languages that do not use characters. China has become the leader in cell phone usage and Bell compares the way in which China and other Asian countries use cell phones to the way in which Americans use them. She focuses on four main functions of cell phones; communication, information, cites for anxiety and control, and personal identity. As mentioned before, Asian countries have developed the use of SMS at a faster rate than Americans, and they use this technology to stay in contact with friends and family and also for micro-coordination. Also differing from American cell phone usage, is the way in which some Asian governments have used communication between cell phones to keep society in "control" and regulate information that is shared. Personal identity is the fourth function Bell discuses in her article. She writes on the way people have used their cell phones to share their individuality with others by decorating it with different face-plates or changing the background picture.
McLelland also focuses his attention on cell phone use in Asia. He states that cell phone usage should be looked at in a cultural sense, and each culture is different. He cites Castells et al., extensively and has both negative and positive criticism. He states that Castells et al.,'s research helps in discussing global cell phone usage because it is the most extensive study done up to date. However he also states that Castells research focuses on the way Western societies have impacted other cultures, but McLelland says this is somewhat ethnocentric. McLelland says that although some aspects of cell phone use in Asian are comparable to Western societies, he also says that it has developed differently in Asian countries due to their varying cultures.
Both article look at case studies in Asia and the way in which cell phones have developed differently in those countries compared to the US and Europe. I think its important to note that socio-economic differences correlate to the development (and lack of) in cell phone usage. Although China has the largest number in cell phone users, it is those in the middle and upper classes that use it. McLelland directly cites Castells et al., and Bell touches on many of the topics discusses in the reading at the start of the semester such as micro-coordination. I think it is important to note not only the likeness between the US and Asian countries, but also the differences among the different Asian countries.