Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-237) and index.

History of Mobile Telephony -- Growth of the Mobile Market -- Making Sense of Mobile Telephone Adoption -- Interaction Between Technology and Society -- Technical/Social Determinism and Affordances -- Domestication of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) -- Methods and Data Sources -- Safety and Security -- The Mobile Telephone as a Contribution to Security -- Use in Situations Where There Is a Chronic or Acute Need for Contact -- Abstraction of Security vis-a-vis Mobile Telephony -- The Mobile Telephone in Extraordinary Situations -- Diminution of Safety -- Driving and Mobile Telephone Use -- Personal Privacy -- The Coordination of Everyday Life -- Social Coordination -- Mechanical Timekeeping and Social Coordination -- The Development of Mechanical Timekeeping -- The Standardization of Time -- The Etiquette of Time and Timekeeping -- Mobile Communication and Microcoordination -- Midcourse Adjustment -- Iterative Coordination -- Softening of Schedules -- Time-Based vs. Mobile-Based Coordination -- Advantages of Mobile Based Coordination -- Limitations -- Competition or Supplement? -- The Mobile Telephone and Teens -- Child/Adolescent Development and the Adoption of Telephony -- Adolescence and Emancipation in Contemporary Society -- Elements in the Adoption of Mobile Telephony by Teens -- Functional Uses of the Mobile Telephone Among Adolescents -- Symbolic Meaning of the Mobile Telephone -- Social Networking via the Mobile Telephone -- Monetary Dimensions to Teens' Adoption of Mobile Telephony -- Conclusion: Mobile Telephony and the Dance of Emancipation -- The Intrusive Nature of Mobile Telephony -- Mobile Telephony in Settings with Heavy Normative Expectations -- Mobile Telephony in Interpersonal Situations -- Initiation of the Call and the Production of Social Partitions -- Management of the Local Situation During the Call -- Reemergence into the Local Setting -- Forced Eavesdropping and Being Embarrassed for Others -- Texting and the Growth of Asynchronous Discourse -- The Growth of Texting -- Texting and the Individual -- Texting and the Group -- What Is Being Said, Who Is Saying It, and How They Say It -- Content of the Messages -- Mechanics of SMS Writing -- Written vs. Spoken Language -- Gendering of Text Messages -- The Future of Texting -- Conclusion: The Significance of Osborne's Prognosis -- Interaction Between Innovation and Social Institutions -- History of Technical Innovation and Social Adoption -- Sociology and the Role of Technical Innovation -- Social Capital vs. Individualism -- Social Capital -- The Institutionalization of Individualization -- Role of ICTs in the Fostering of Social Capital/Individualism -- The Internet -- The Mobile Telephone -- Ad Hoc Networks -- Virtual Walled Communities -- Data Sources Used in the Analysis of Mobile Telephony.

Has the cell phone forever changed the way people communicate? The mobile phone is used for "real time" coordination while on the run, adolescents use it to manage their freedom, and teens "text" to each other day and night. The mobile phone is more than a simple technical innovation or social fad, more than just an intrusion on polite society. This book, based on worldwide research involving tens of thousands of interviews and contextual observations, looks into the impact of the phone on our daily lives. The mobile phone has fundamentally affected our accessibility, safety and security, coordination of social and business activities, and use of public places.

Based on research conducted in dozens of countries, this insightful and entertaining book examines the once-unexpected interaction between humans and cell phones, and between humans, period. The compelling discussion and projections about the future of the telephone should give designers everywhere a more informed practice and process, and provide researchers with new ideas to last years.