mobile

26 Apr 2018

Smart Devices – Foolish Users by A. Michael Noll

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Smart Devices – Foolish Users A. Michael Noll April 26, 2018 © Copyright 2018 AMN It seems we have become slaves to our computers and smart phones, with near constant updating, synching, and battery recharging. The devices might be considered “smart,” but the users seem to be “foolish” and perhaps even “stupid.” We are slaves to these devices. We need to feed them electricity to keep them charged, and groom them with updates. They disturb us with interruptions and demands for our attention. We become mesmerized and perhaps hypnotized by what they display to us on their screens. We discover […]
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14 Jan 2018

New Media Addiction by A. Michael Noll

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NEW MEDIA ADDICTION A. Michael Noll January 13, 2018 © Copyright 2019 AMN Concern is being expressed about the addictive use of smartphones. It has even been suggested that software be installed to limit use of smartphones, particularly use by young people. All the supposed harm is similar to what was said about radio and also about television during their early years. There was discussion decades ago about the need to restrict use. I am not old enough to remember the telegraph, but I can guess that similar predictions of doom from overuse were also made. And what of all […]
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04 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: A One-Man WiFi-Only Experiment

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A recent WSJ article (subscription required) by Ryan Knutson begins with the provocative question “Do you really need a wireless phone company?”  A few sentences later he notes that while “[i]t is almost impossible to imagine life without a cellphone…imagining life without a cellphone bill is getting a lot easier.” To address his “do we need a wireless phone company” research question, Knutson undertook a one-person experiment.  As he explains: For 30 days beginning in January, I disconnected my iPhone from AT&T Inc. and lived entirely off the free Wi-Fi connections that are available nearly everywhere. It wasn’t exactly seamless…But with […]
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03 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Startups Offer Low-Cost WiFi-First Service

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In my introductory post on unlicensed spectrum I noted that two small startup companies, Republic Wireless and FreedomPop, are making creative use of that spectrum to offer low cost voice and Internet service. These two companies were the focus of a mid-February article in the New York Times by Brian Chen.  As Chen explains, “FreedomPop and Republic Wireless…offer services that rely primarily on Wi-Fi networks, and in areas without Wi-Fi, customers can pull a signal from regular cell towers.” FreedomPop, which has 80 employees, offers software that enables smartphones to automatically join Wi-Fi networks…For $5 a month, users can gain […]
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24 Feb 2015

The Evolving Role of Unlicensed Spectrum: Introduction

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With the FCC taking multiple steps to expand the availability of unlicensed spectrum amid growing user reliance on untethered connectivity, the role and importance of this spectrum in the U.S. context is expanding and likely to expand further. This evolving dynamic will be the topic of a series of posts, starting with this introduction.  We hope it will trigger comments from experts and other interested parties in the U.S., and also from those who can draw comparisons with other countries and regions of the world. Among the manifestations of this shift are new types of wireless service providers, including small startups […]
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24 Jan 2015

ICT for Development in Agricultural Sectors, Professor Steinfield

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We had a brief interview with Professor Charles Steinfield before a seminar he presented on the role of information and communication technologies for development, focusing on their role in the agricultural context. Distilling key lessons learned from his field research with Professor Susan Wyche, he touches on the kinds of technologies being used, the implications of their use, and the barriers to further success. This brief overview conveys the substantive areas he addressed in more depth in the seminar that followed. See the short video at: https://vimeo.com/110827930 Professor Steinfield’s work is supported by USAID, which funds MSU’s Global Center for Food Systems […]
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13 Dec 2014

Quello Policy Research Paper on Mobile Today and Tomorrow

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The Quello Center has just released a report on ‘Mobile Today and Tomorrow’ by a team of researchers from the Quello Center, Oxford Consulting, and Huawei Technologies. It explores trends in mobile and speculates on future developments. It is anchored in a review of literature, and a set of interviews with leading experts in many aspects of mobile technology, use and policy. It differs from many other overviews in being based on a social science perspective on mobile and striving to be global in its perspective. We invite comments and recommendations on this report and directions for taking further research. […]
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12 Nov 2014

The Language of Mobile in Rural Uganda by Ninsiima Daniel

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The exponential diffusion of mobile communication across Uganda, and much of the developing world at large, has led mobile to become a testing ground for various ICT agriculture services delivered. Unfortunately, the majority of these early services usually require farmers to follow a strict syntax in order to register and the information is most often provided exclusively in English. Not surprisingly, a majority of the farmers are not sufficiently literate in English to benefit from these services, which dramatically undermines the effectiveness of these services. Against that background, we developed and field tested a mobile-based platform that enables farmers to […]
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