It is hard for me to find ways in which we are constrained
by ubiquitous mobile communication. We seem to be the furthest thing from
constrained. To think of how far the world has come from the desktop computer
is unbelievable. The idea that an individual can connect with another across
the world instantaneously is surreal (of course in areas where service is
available, and if your willing t pay ridiculously high phone bills). As Campbell & Jin Park mentioned, it is
the portability and wearability of the mobile phone that makes this possible.
I found the idea of an involuntary eavesdropper quite
humorous because I could relate to it so well. I can’t count how many times I
have been in a situation where I wish I hadn’t overheard a certain conversation
(coincidentally on the days I forget my ear buds at the house). I have never thought about the situation as an
embarrassment for the listener, but it makes sense (Campbell & Park 2008). There have been situations that I overhear
certain things that can make a person very uncomfortable. One might ask why not
just relocate, but sometimes that is not an option, for example on public
transportation where space is scarce.
I found the idea of urban superorganisms in relation to the
use of smartphones to be very interesting (Zambonelli 2012). As Dale mentioned,
putting aside the science fiction feel, I can picture the future Zambonelli
describes. With the overload of data being collected today, I don’t see why it cannot
be used for more useful purposes, such as energy awareness as mentioned in the
article.
The reading about ubiquitous apps by Gerard Goggin was also
very interesting, more specifically the talk of the importance of the app and
the origins. It is amazing what apps have done to the capabilities of today’s
smartphone (Goggin 2011). The
functionalities of the smartphones are in a way limitless with the number of
apps more that tripling in 2 years (Goggin 2011).
