Making sense of the technological onslaught : observations on the mobile telephone in the age of constant adaptation

Abstract

Synopsis

This thesis examines the mobile telephone and its role in everyday life from a consumer perspective. The aim is to examine the dynamics of its proliferation and adoption, discuss whether we as consumers are free to relate to mobile telephones according to our own inclination, and finally suggest our potential to influence the development of mobile telephone technology. I have adopted an Interdisciplinary approach, based on the principles of STS (Science and Technology in Society) studies. Using the “circuit of culture” approach from cultural studies as main framework, concepts from sociology, ethnography, media studies etc. are included in a conceptual toolbox. In the analysis, mainstream images and themes from mobile telephone marketing discourses are critically interpreted through discourse analysis, and then compared to real life experiences of consumers, based on qualitative interviews and similar research findings. The discussion focuses on the dual nature of the mobile as technical artefact and signifier of values and identity with emphasis on the interaction in the field between consumers and production forces. The thesis seeks to reveal the diversity and complexity within this interaction, and the open-ended nature of the development, acknowledging the importance of individual interpretation, context and other non-material factors.