Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a book of thirty two independent chapters written by some of the leaders in mobile communication studies by MIT Press, a leader in ethnographic titles devoted to technology.
The chapters span research in countries and regions including Ghana, China, Mexico, Northern Africa, the Arab Gulf States, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Israel, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea. The editor, James E. Katz, heads the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University.
The focus is not on mobile technology, but how it is used by people based on primary research.
The authors are largely university researchers or researchers in mobile carrier labs. Included are well known mobile ethnographers Jan Chipchase and early prognosticators on technology adoption such as Harold Rheingold and Sherry Turkle.
Much of this type of research is conducted within companies with mobile business interests, and is never published. The value of the book is as a guide to university mobile research centers, who is publishing publicly in the field, in which journals, and at which conferences.
Every essay is fascinating, readable, and extensively footnoted.
The first section is Digital Divides and Social Mobility: studies of feature phone use in developing countries. The second is Sociality and Copresence: studies of dimensions of the always connected individual and group. The third section, Politics and Social Change includes specific studies on democracy, civil society and social change driven by individual and group use of mobile technology. The last section is Culture and Imagination: including studies of mobile gaming, courtship and family dynamics in India, music, and even mobile applications to spiritual mysticism in the Philippines.
I look forward to more books in this format on the topic, published every 2-3 years. Mobile society is a critical worldchanging topic, and moves quickly.

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Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective (Information Revolution and Global Politics) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is an excellent introduction to the effects of mobile communication in contemporary society.
It has abundant worlwide facts, references, and sociological analysis. Furthermore, in has some really bright passages on the spatial and political consequences of new mediums of communication.

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Wireless networks are the fastest growing communications technology inhistory. Are mobile phones expressions of identity, fashionable gadgets, tools forlife--or all of the above? Mobile Communication and Society looks at how thepossibility of multimodal communication from anywhere to anywhere at any timeaffects everyday life at home, at work, and at school, and raises broader concernsabout politics and culture both global and local.Drawing on data gathered fromaround the world, the authors explore who has access to wireless technology, andwhy, and analyze the patterns of social differentiation seen in unequal access. Theyexplore the social effects of wireless communication--what it means for family life,for example, when everyone is constantly in touch, or for the idea of an office whenworkers can work anywhere. Is the technological ability to multitask furthercompressing time in our already hurried existence?The authors consider the rise of amobile youth culture based on peer-to-peer networks, with its own language oftexting, and its own values. They examine the phenomenon of flash mobs, and thepossible political implications. And they look at the relationship betweencommunication and development and the possibility that developing countries could"leapfrog" directly to wireless and satellite technology. This sweeping book--movingeasily in its analysis from the United States to China, from Europe to Latin Americaand Africa--answers the key questions about our transformation into a mobile networksociety.

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Mobile Wireless Communications Review

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(More customer reviews)This is not really a book big on theory. Instead, its main merit is a focused, problem-based approach. For long established subjects like calculus, say, the usefulness of having extensive problem sets for a student to tackle is apparent. And thus there are indeed plenty of texts to supply those problems.
But for the mobile wireless field, most standards and implementations are still so new. There has been little time for some author to come up with a suitable and indepth suite of problems, until this text. The comprehensive nature of these may be very attractive to a lecturer. Plus, the author also offers an adjunct solutions book.

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A wide range of real-world examples illustrates the theoretical aspects of this tutorial introduction to digital mobile wireless networks. In particular, 2.5G and 3G packet-switched systems are discussed in detail, as are wireless LANs and personal-area networks. Many worked examples and homework exercises are provided, and a solutions manual is available for instructors. The book is an ideal text for electrical engineering and computer science students taking courses in wireless communications. It will also be an invaluable reference for practicing engineers.

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