Abstract
In this chapter, visions of mobile communication are explored by focussing on idealised concepts surrounding wireless technology. By examining sources on the development, marketing, and use of wireless technology, I contextualise these visions within earlier accounts of ideal communication found in media history and isolate the regularities that are part of these accounts. On close examination, a paradox reveals itself in these regularities, one that can be described as resulting from an uneasiness in the human communication psyche: an unfulfilled desire for divine togetherness that clashes with individual communication needs. While the exact nature of this paradox—innate and hardwired into our brains, or culturally fostered— remains unknown, however, I assert that the paradox will continue to fuel idealised ideas about future communication technology. I conclude with the observation that not all use of mobile technology can immediately be interpreted as transcendental, and that built-in locational awareness balances the mobile communication act.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Information Communication Technologies and Emerging Business Strategies |
Editors | S. van der Graaf, Y. Washida |
Place of Publication | Hershey |
Publisher | Idea Group Publishing |
Chapter | 1 |
Pages | 20-37 |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |