Summary Response Week 8: Mobility

CPSC 601.25 Week 7 Part 1

Papers

In this response I will discuss a paper that looks at browser use on mobile phones and another which analyzes the social factors of mobile video watching.

Cutting the Cable

Prior the advent of smart-phones and good mp3 players, people typically interacted with their computers at their desks or perhaps on their laps. When mobile devices (iPhones and copycat phones, iPods, etc) became prevalent this changed. Intuition tells us that people would use their phones when a computer was not available, a computer has a bigger screen, a better keyboard, etc. But when the researchers in "At home with computer access" looked into the actual habits of users, they found that people were using their phones mostly at home. Since this contradicts our intuition, the result is interesting. The researchers directly asked the users why they were using their mobile phones and they found a variety of answers, including simple laziness. The researchers don't do much deeper analysis but it's possible that people are using their phones because the cognitive cost of going to the computer is just higher. Rather then seeing the devices as substitutes they are really complements because people might be doing tasks they wouldn't necessarily even do if they had to go to the computer.

Social Studies

The second paper reviewed, "consuming video on mobile devices" is older but offers much better analysis. In their study they reviewed the time diaries of participants but looked deeper into the social context that surround their use. They found, interestingly, that people often used mobile video as a way to avoid contact with others, such as on a bus or a train. Users used the devices in other contexts which were sometimes complex. The act of removing the device from their bag or putting it back also seemed to impact their choices, this is another example of the 'little costs' idea presented earlier.

Looking Forward

It would be interesting to see how many of the social factors have changed (and which have stayed the same) now the mobile devices have become smaller and incorporate many more functions. Rather then just viewing video people can surf the web, browse Facebook, and perform many other tasks with a device substantially smaller then a PSP. The enduring work in this paper might be on to the pretexts that certain activities provide. It would suggest for example, the checking email (without headphones) does not provide the same "social protection" as watching a movie.