I'm working on piece on the uses of ethnography in futures research, and came across this BBC News piece on the latest research of Genevieve Bell, an Intel ethnographer studying the use of mobile technologies in Asia. I'm working on the ethnography and futures piece over the weekend, but wanted to run ahead with the BBC piece:
Technology is often seen in the West as a way of making our lives more efficient or as a way of having fun.But researchers have found big cultural differences between East and West when it comes to what people actually do with their computers and mobiles phones.
In many Asian countries, technology has become a tool for learning, religion and politics, says Intel ethnographer Genevieve Bell....
"We can learn lessons from why the mobile phone has been successful in Asia," Dr Bell told BBC News Online.
"It is relatively robust, relatively small, you don't need a desk, you don't need to be a in particular place.
"And you don't have to be literate to use them or speak English. These are all constraints when it comes to operating a computer," she explains. ...
More importantly, mobile technology has been adapted to reflect the cultural priorities of each nation, such as their religious faith.
In Malaysia you can now get mobiles that come with a built-in directional finder to help Muslims pray in the direction of Mecca.
"This is a wonderful way of imagining technology doing something unexpected," says Dr Bell, "so rather than being a tool for work it becomes a tool for someone's religious devotion."...
"These devices are really up for grabs and what people are going to do with them is very different and very unexpected," she says.
Bell has conducted research everywhere but Antarctica, it seems; her Web page has a list of research articles.
More on this kind of research, and what it reveals about technology and people, next week.
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