Interface, Mobile-Text and Modalities of Mobile Phones

Abstract

Mobile phone has evolved from a voice-only medium into multimedia. Unfortunately, studies on mobile phones thus far have been unable to keep pace with developments in technology and service marketing. As a result, there are some biased tendencies in present day social and academic discourses on mobile phones. First, the marketing discourses are placing a strong emphasis on the technical developments of the mobile media. Second, there is a strong tendency in academic discourse to regard mobile phones as simply 'phones', namely a mono-medium. Thus, existing marketing and academic discourses have been incapable of providing a thorough understanding on the substance of the mobile phone. Only by understanding the media characteristics of the mobile phones can we understand its substance. In this context, I will attempt to approach this medium in three venues: interface, mobile-text, and modalities.