Personalised media and the transformation of public space
The article from the readings on Chapter 8: Media on the Move, brings up a really good point of public versus private space when considering cell phone use. I have personally noticed a shift in the way people have used their cell phones. Back when cell phones were first beginning to be utilized by the general public, there was a certain unspoken etiquette to having a conversation on your mobile telephone. As the younger generations have adopted this technology the rules of etiquette have been tossed aside for convenience.
One recent innovation that has made the individualization of public space bearable is text messaging. Now as a person on public transportation it is becoming more and more common for people to use the relatively quiet method of getting their messages across rather than have private conversations that make people feel uncomfortable. But text messaging is expensive, and not every plan offers unlimited text messaging. It will be interesting to see if corporations will use this technologies to “buy” into the text messaging market by advertising through text messages, opening up unlimited text messages to the users. As a cell phone user I am not sure I want to be advertised to just so I can have text messaging for free, however, I am also not sure I am in the majority with this opinion.
Just a couple of weeks ago I received a call from Hillary Clinton reminding me to vote…and I guess the idea was for me to vote for her. The fact that I am getting calls from anyone advertising anything on my cell phone urks me. I used to have a land line phone in my home, but gave it up years ago because of telemarketers. Now that same annoyance has followed to the cell phone. It wont be long before I start receiving text messages advertising something or another, but they wont be able to do this unless we as the consumer do not get charged for this.