DoCoMo to Study Mobile Madness
If you want to see how mobile telephony is transforming business and culture, look no farther than Japan. Adoption of third-generation or “3G” cellular technologies in Japan far outpaces that in North America, and young people in Japan are coming up with uses for their mobiles–such as staying in constant touch with their boyfriends or girlfriends, free of their parents’ eavesdropping–that manufacturers and cellular providers never dreamed of. But understandably, many Japanese are worried about how the technology is affecting the country’s deeply-rooted social traditions. Now NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s leading cellular provider, has announced that it will open a lab specifically to study the social impact of mobile phones.
DoCoMo says the lab, to be called the Mobile Society Research Institute, will focus on four areas:
- Mobile phone etiquette and other cultural issues.
- Mobile spam, the unwelcome use of camera phones, and other forms of privacy invasion.
- The impact of mobile phones on industry.
- The impact of mobile phones on the “social infrastructure.”
For more, see the DoCoMo press release and this story at MobilePipeline.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it
The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.