vanderwal.net

I am glad to have my my newest book in my hands finally. It is Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life edited by Mitzuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe, and Misa Matsuda. Last year's trip to Amsterdam floored me at how far behind we in the U.S. are with mobile (as well as broadband, which was really amazing). In talking with others on my trip they were pointing out how much farther ahead Japan is than Europe. What do I mean farther ahead? The trends in personal usage of mobile devices are two or three years ahead of the U.S. How people interact and use their mobile devices (text, web, information interaction, etc.). I have been watching the trends I read about in magazine articles and heard in conversation flow from other countries and after years bubble up in U.S. culture. My interest in the Personal InfoCloud draws me toward deeper understandings on personal devices around the world.

Ethnographic insights interest me, particularly for cultures and interactions with technology that I can not witness first hand. This book has come highly recommended and having met Mimi this past Spring I really have been looking forward to this book.

Wired has an overview of Personal, Portable, Pedestrian. You may also want to look at the publisher's MIT Press, page for Personal, Portable, Pedestrian.