2005.03.08 SLIDE 1IS146 – SPRING 2005

Social Uses of Mobile Phones

Prof. Marc Davis, Prof. Peter Lyman, and danah boyd

UC Berkeley SIMS

Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Spring 2005http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/academics/courses/is146/s05/

IS146:

Foundations of New Media

2005.03.08 SLIDE 2IS146 – SPRING 2005

Lecture Overview

• Review of Last Time– Information Theory – The Telephone from Bell to Cellphones

• Today– Social Uses of Mobile Phones

• Preview of Next Time– Reading Visual Representations I

2005.03.08 SLIDE 3IS146 – SPRING 2005

Lecture Overview

• Review of Last Time– Information Theory – The Telephone from Bell to Cellphones

• Today– Social Uses of Mobile Phones

• Preview of Next Time– Midterm Study Guide– Reading Visual Representations I

2005.03.08 SLIDE 4IS146 – SPRING 2005

• Claude Shannon in the 1940’s studying signal communication

• Ways to measure information – Communication

• Producing the same message at its destination as that seen at its source

– Problem• A “noisy channel” can distort the message

• Semantic aspects are irrelevant

Information Theory

Message Source

Desti-nation

ReceiverTrans-mitter

Noise

Channel

2005.03.08 SLIDE 5IS146 – SPRING 2005

Human Communication Theory?

Message Source

Desti-nation

ReceiverTrans-mitter

Noise

Channel

2005.03.08 SLIDE 6IS146 – SPRING 2005

Daniel Delmore on Salen & Zimmerman

• Weaver says that, "information is a measure of one's freedom of choice when one selects a message.” ... What are some examples of games that test the information theory and the description listed above?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 7IS146 – SPRING 2005

Daniel Delmore on Salen & Zimmerman

• Noise increases the uncertainty of the signal, and therefore the amount of information it contains. Is this concept of noise a good thing when it comes to information? Specifically is this a safe or not? In what context/environment is “noise” good to exist in?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 8IS146 – SPRING 2005

Daniel Arnold on Salen & Zimmerman

• Salen and Zimmerman generally define information as "a measure of how certain you can be about the nature of a signal," emphasizing that the more uncertainty, the more information. Does this definition reduce the amount of information present in society? Given this definition, would you (still) consider people to be bombarded with information overload?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 9IS146 – SPRING 2005

Daniel Arnold on Salen & Zimmerman

• Assuming that information simply is based on uncertainty, would this decrease the reliability of information? How do we assign credibility if all information depends on uncertainty?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 10IS146 – SPRING 2005

Daniel Arnold on Salen & Zimmerman

• According to Salen and Zimmerman, "Noise increases the amount of information and uncertainty in a message." How would noise increase the amount of information in any given message? Is not all the information of a message contained in the signal itself? How exactly, does background noise add information?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 11IS146 – SPRING 2005

Daniel Arnold on Salen & Zimmerman

• Given the separation of meaning and information, can meaning be labeled information when it contains some ambiguity? For instance, when a word can be defined in several different ways.

2005.03.08 SLIDE 12IS146 – SPRING 2005

Lecture Overview

• Review of Last Time– Information Theory – The Telephone from Bell to Cellphones

• Today– Social Uses of Mobile Phones

• Preview of Next Time– Midterm Study Guide – Reading Visual Representations I

2005.03.08 SLIDE 13IS146 – SPRING 2005

Mizuko (Mimi) Ito

• Annenberg Center for Communication (University of Southern California)

• Stanford: PhD in anthropology; PhD in education

• Believes in youth empowerment, youth-centered ethnography

• Studies mobile phone culture and media mixing

2005.03.08 SLIDE 14IS146 – SPRING 2005

Keitai Culture in Japan

• SMS (texting) vs. keitai internet email– Different technological protocols

• Economics and social practice in Japan– Myths: cheaper, easier– Carriers– ¥7,521 ($72) - average student bill/month

• Why does texting work there and not here?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 15IS146 – SPRING 2005

Slides from Mimi Ito

• Slides from Mimi Ito shown in lecture not posted

• For a related web-accessible talk from Mimi Ito see:– Ito.ppt

Title: Understanding the Mobile User: The Case of JapanAuthor: Mimi Ito research associate, USC Annenberg Center for Communication; Mellon Teaching Fellow, USC department of Anthropology

2005.03.08 SLIDE 16IS146 – SPRING 2005

Diary Study

• What is a diary study?– Record every interaction with the mobile– Indicate meta commentary– Complements data record

• When are diary studies useful?– Interactions over extended periods of time– Want to know what people are thinking during

interaction before they forget

2005.03.08 SLIDE 17IS146 – SPRING 2005

Cheskin Research: Who

• We are 23 musicians, 4 self-professed tech geeks, 8 public performers, 2 scuba divers, 1 competitive water skier, 3 sailors, 2 futurists, 13 non-profit volunteers, 7 lefties, 2 aspiring novelists, 1 surfer, 4 fine artists, 1 pilot, 6 nature lovers, and 1 Taiko drummer.

• We come from more than 20 different countries and cultures. We speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Tagalog and a few others.  

• We also have professional design principles. We have academic credentials in psychology, sociology, anthropology, design, e-business, media, branding, identity, communications, advertising, product development and packaging. We have long experience in many markets. And we find that all of the above feeds all of the above.

2005.03.08 SLIDE 18IS146 – SPRING 2005

Cheskin Research: Design Principles• Understand what others don't.

– Observe the world. Be rigorous as you face the facts. Look past conventional wisdom, question everything, and keep on diving until you find a unique perspective.

• Be a powerful presence.– Know who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you different. Create a distinct

position through your products and practices, and use design to tell the world. In all your actions, be authentic -- use your own voice, your own words, and your own style.  

• Be relevant.– Listen. Observe. Pay attention to the needs and aspirations of others, and strive to fulfill

them -- but only promise what you know you can deliver. Make compassion and responsiveness your hidden agenda.

• Distinguish yourself. – Discover the thing that makes you unique, and use it to differentiate yourself. Express it in

everything you do and mind the details. Go beyond the norm by finding creative ways to add value to every brand experience.

• Make change.– Catalyze your community with positive action. Be passionate in your beliefs, prescient in

your observations, and proactive in your behavior. Stick your neck out, and make a real difference.

• Evolve or die.– Size, age, and wealth are no defense against change and no excuse for complacency. Stay

alert, stay flexible, stay current, and embrace change.

2005.03.08 SLIDE 19IS146 – SPRING 2005

Cheskin Research: Methods and Goals• Methods

– Quantitative primary research with teens, age 13-18, and young adults, age 19-24

– Interviews with industry experts– Secondary research

• Motivations for wireless study– Youth influence larger consumer trends– Figure out new wireless product and service offerings

• Goals– Understand the phenomena being observed– Advise customers about what actions to take based

on that understanding– Sell these services and the value of their approach

2005.03.08 SLIDE 20IS146 – SPRING 2005

Cheskin Research: The Wireless Future

1. Social connectivity and entertainment will be the primary defining characteristics of wireless devices in the youth market, and likely the consumer market at large

2. Young people will build relationships via wireless devices

3. Multitasking capabilities will flourish within the youth market

4. Personal security and convenience will continue to be motivating factors for first time mobile phone consumers

2005.03.08 SLIDE 21IS146 – SPRING 2005

Cheskin Research: The Wireless Future

5. Personalization of design, function, and interface will be a common expectation

6. Wireless entertainment and information applications will become favored "gap-fillers"

7. Strategic convergence will define the most successful wireless devices

8. Entertainment will drive the development of wireless cross-platform content

2005.03.08 SLIDE 22IS146 – SPRING 2005

Ito and Cheskin on Mobile Youth• How do their methods, motivations, and

goals compare?

• How do their findings compare?

• What factors affect the similarities and differences?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 23IS146 – SPRING 2005

Nick Reid on Ito and Okabe

• How do “social spaces” intersect? What I mean is, if there is a situation where a group of people are together, and through telepresence, how does this outside party enter into a group? How is their presence felt by people who are there or are not there, would it really seem like the person is in the next room?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 24IS146 – SPRING 2005

Nick Reid on Ito and Okabe

• A question that would be fun to discuss is what counts as “contact”? Is contact a hug or is contact a SMS? Does a communication not being “physical” demean the communication? “When a situation is predictable there is no information present.” Another question would be, does contact actually have to transmit information?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 25IS146 – SPRING 2005

Steven Lybeck on Ito and Okabe• Ito and Okabe show that new technologies

are spawning the creation of virtual social spaces that are quite analogous to physical ones. Could these virtual spaces supersede or even replace interaction in physical spaces? Why or why not?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 26IS146 – SPRING 2005

Steven Lybeck on Ito and Okabe• Are there any examples of virtual spaces

constructed without the use of new media technologies?

2005.03.08 SLIDE 27IS146 – SPRING 2005

Lecture Overview

• Review of Last Time– Information Theory – The Telephone from Bell to Cellphones

• Today– Social Uses of Mobile Phones

• Preview of Next Time– Midterm Study Guide– Reading Visual Representations I

2005.03.08 SLIDE 28IS146 – SPRING 2005

Midterm Study Guide

• Midterm structure– Short answer questions– Ethnographic analysis question– LOGO programming analysis question

• Studying tips– Use midterm study guide– Study in groups– Be prepared to answer all questions on your

own

2005.03.08 SLIDE 29IS146 – SPRING 2005

Readings for Next Time

• Gunther R. Kress and Theo van Leeuwen. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, London: Routledge, 1995, p. 1-42.– Discussion Questions

• Onesta Francis• Natalie Torin