James Katz (Professor of Communication and founder of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University; formerly the Head of the Social Science Research Unit at Bell Communications Research) in Receiver:
… the mobile phone is becoming miniature homunculi (sic) of the person. In a sense the mobile is becoming a natural part of one's physical and sociological sense of self. Physically, it is the standard access point to the larger world. But it is also becoming a portal to one's identity, self-knowledge and future. A big fear for many mobile phone users is the loss (or theft) of their mobile phone. "I would not know what to do without it" or "I'd die if I lost my mobile" are statements I've heard expressed during focus group discussions. While these statements are hyperbolic, they are far from meaningless: in a symbolic sense, loss of a mobile is a form of annihilation. The mobile phone is becoming part of the user’s brain, and its absence inflicts a form of social and psychological amnesia.
In closing, three concepts may be borne in mind when contemplating what future users will want in their phones. First, leading edge users will want their phones to have the most advanced styles as well as features. However, unless they are breakthrough technologies (such as mobile TV), functional improvements are not as critical as style considerations. Second, the traditional categories of tools - TV, phonographs, telephones and calendars - arose in an earlier era and were derived from separate technological streams. Increasingly, they are becoming jumbled within the delivery platforms as mobile communication technology advances. Hence it is important for designers not to make too many assumptions about the continuing separation of various current devices and services. Third, there is an increasing morphing between the electronic gadget and the human body. The barrier between communication technology and body, once quite distinct, is becoming less so. The trend will continue: many future users will want their communication machines to be one with their physical bodies and social selves.
This from Christian Lindholm: 'This is the new mobility: a device for voice which is wearable and a device for data which is pocketable'. The Nokia 770 is reviewed by Russell Beattie here, and via Russell this from Nokia: 'The industry is expecting 3 billion mobile subscribers by 2008, not 2010 as earlier predicted, according to mobile phone vendor Nokia' (source: inq7.net).
Oh and this from Charlie Schick, on an article in The International Herald Tribune, caught my eye:
This article rubbed me the wrong way. Mostly because it was about how folks (like the W3C) are trying to keep the PC-friendly Web separate from the Web as seen from a phone.
Yes, form factors have to be considered. But, let's stop stressing how we need to get the WHOLE Web onto a phone and start talking about what Web we need on a phone, what Web is relevant to phones.
