The International Herald Tribune has an article about cultural and national differences in cell phone use in Europe. It's an example of the growing appeal of ethnographic studies among technology companies-- and the degree to which culture, not technology, is destiny.
A mobile tale of three cities
Amparo Lasén, a Spanish sociologist, is completing a study conducted for the Digital World Research Center at the University of Surrey in England of mobile phone users in London, Madrid and Paris to compare behavioral changes between cultures and over time....
"Europe is looked at as a broadly similar market," Lasén said. "But in studying mobile phones you can see details in each country can change enormously."... Actually, there were not many surprises for people already familiar with the daily cultural habits of Spaniards, Britons and the French, Lasén concluded.
Londoners tended to be the most reluctant users of mobile phones in public and Madrid residents the most talkative. Parisians had the strictest rules governing mobile phone etiquette, and they often felt free to enforce it on others, her study showed.
The reaction toward other mobile phone users varied by cities. Loud conversations in public spaces are tolerated in Madrid, prompt gentle frowns in London and cause Parisians to intervene with complaints....
Modern love sometimes involved the mobile phone, with Lasén observing a number of people in both Madrid and Paris kissing while on the phone. No such thing took place in her observations in London.
"These were neither simple goodbye kisses nor short telephone conversations," Lasén said. "Such behavioral habits could make users reluctant to adopt use of videophones."
There was yet another difference Lasén found as her study unfolded that supported cultural stereotypes. She discovered that the residents of each city reacted quite differently to her as she worked.
Parisians frowned, Londoners pretended not to notice and people in Madrid didn't mind.
Thanks to the TELECOM-CITIES list, which pointed me to this article. I'm proud to say that one of the list's guiding lights, Anthony Townsend, is due to join the Institute shortly. Doubtless the quality of the blogging will go up after he's around.
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