Description

Mobile Multimedia in Action displays a revealing picture of how people communicate using camera phones and other mobile multimedia devices. With such devices spreading faster than practically any other new technology, questions about how these devices are being used (and abused) to capture and distribute embarrassing or raunchy images and content, and what should be done about it, are surfacing. This volume presents the first detailed study of the use of these devices.

Using a variant of social science research known as ethnomethodology, Koskinen explores the kinds of images people take with camera phones and how they use sound to enhance these images. The book asks two main questions. First, what kinds of methods of expression, such as visuals or sound, do people use when they design multimedia messages? Second, how do people interact with and respond to each other through mobile multimedia devices? Koskinen has a broader objective centering on the impact of these devices on human relationships and society at large. He asks, What do people do with these devices? Is mobile telephony moving toward a more practical direction, or will it simply become a visual chatty channel fit for gossip but not for real news or other practical purposes? What kind of social activities and organizations does it best serve—peer-to-peer networks or institutional ones?

Koskinen examines these questions from three unique perspectives: the design elements of mobile multimedia, which considers methods of expression people use in designing multimedia messages; mobile multimedia as interaction, which looks into how people interact with each other using this technology and makes a case for studying multimedia as a naturally occurring activity; and mobile multimedia in society, which searches for answers as to the societal consequences of mobile multimedia usage.

A groundbreaking work, Mobile Multimedia in Action will be a fascinating read for both multimedia device professionals and everyday users alike. Providing a glimpse into the future, Koskinen asks where mobile multimedia technology is taking mankind and society.

Ilpo Kalevi Koskinen is a professor at the University of Helsinki, Department of Sociology. He is the author and editor of about a dozen publications including: The Politics of Expertise: Professions and the State in Finland and Managerial Evaluations at the Workplace: An Ethnographically Situated Conversation Analytic Study of Evaluations in a Research Institute.