McLelland and Bell
McLelland’s article focuses on several different aspects of mobile culture. The author offers insight into foreign uses and the significance of those uses of mobile technologies. In specific, McLelland points to Asia in order to shed light on a part of the world that is misunderstood in the area of mobile communication. Where the focus in literature and much of the discourse surrounding mobile communication has been on the Western uses of the technologies, McLelland shifts the attention to what he believes is the real driving force in the development and transformation of new mobile communication technologies. He points to a trend in the Asian cultures that seems to reflect less of a top-down effect and more of a user-based influence on the culture as a whole. In Asia, people are mobilizing themselves with the new capabilities as well as holding onto traditional practices such as in Japan where the expectations of public behavior have remained intact, as social webs have increased in number and size because of the mobile technology. McLelland also gives credit to the Philippines for organizing a truly revolutionary way of equipping its citizens for the 21st century by making their cell phone plans most easily accessible to lower class individuals. McLellan does well to point out how many of the individuals in these Asian cultures are utilizing the mobile phone as means of increasing their quality of life.
Bell’s article also focuses on the use of cell phones in Asian cultures. She comments on the different functions of the technologies and points out how the uses vary across many different aspects of the cultures. It is interesting to observe here how the cell phones are actually used. She suggests that the technologies are more than mere tools of communication. In addition to this obvious use, the mobile phone is also used as a tool for gaining information from others or from the Internet. Through the use of SMS, many of the mobile phone users are able to connect to others in their immediate circle, as well as those outside of it. This helps to promote the sense that ones personal life can be managed completely through the use of the cell phone technologies. This works to create a sense of control and safety that previously had not been readily available to the majority of the population. Bell also comments on the idea that cell phones say a lot about the individuals who have them as well as the way that these individuals utilize the services offered by the mobile technology. In fact, Bell points to the idea that the use of the devices themselves change the landscape for what mobile communication technologies will look like and have to offer in the near future.
Both articles touched upon the uses of the cell phone. I found this most interesting because I previously had not thought about or even considered another cultures uses of the cell phone. It was no surprise to me when I read that contemporary studies of mobile communication are often times situated from a Western point of view. However, it is interesting to see how cultures, especially those with rich traditional characteristics are adopting and adapting to the new technology. I believe it will be interesting to see if the cultures themselves will begin to shape the technologies, vice versa, or both.