An Economist article highlights the interesting cultural differences surrounding the ways people use mobile-phones around the world.
“Mobile phones do not share a single global moniker because the origins of their names are deeply cultural. ‘Cellular’ refers to how modern wireless networks are built, pointing to a technological worldview in America. ‘Mobile’ emphasises that the device is untethered, which fits the roaming, once-imperial British style. Handy highlights the importance of functionality, much appreciated in Germany. But are such differences more than cosmetic? And will they persist or give way to a global mobile culture?”
An American professor predicts “in the long run most national differences will disappear…But he expects some persistence of variations that go back to economics. In poorer countries subscribers will handle their mobile phones differently simply because they lack money. Nearly all airtime in Africa is pre-paid. Practices such as ‘beeping’ are likely to continue for quite a while: when callers lack credit, they hang up after just one ring, a signal that they want to be called back.” In Spain, many mobile-phone users call this a toque, literally “touch,” which could mean one of several things: I’m thinking of you, I’m here (when meeting people at a specific location) or I want you to call me. In any sense, it’s a free way to communicate.
Illustration by James Fryer
“Just how people behave when talking on a mobile phone is a question of culture…Parisians and Madrileniens felt freer to talk in the street, even in the middle of the pavement. Londoners, by contrast, tended to gather in certain zones, for instance at the entrances of tube stations. In Paris people openly complained when bothered by others talking loudly about intimate matters, but complaints were rare in London. In both places, people tended to separate phone and face-to-face conversations, for instance by retreating to a quiet corner. But subscribers in Madrid often mixed them and even allowed others to take part in their phone conversations. The Spanish almost always take a call and most turn off voicemail.
“…Such variations reflect how people traditionally use urban space. In London…the streets are mainly for walking…Paris, however, is a place to stroll, the home of the flâneur. In Madrid people inhabit the streets to talk together. As for their aversion to voicemail, the Spanish consider it rude to leave a call unanswered, even if it is inconvenient. This may be the result of a strong sense of social obligation towards friends and family.”
How is your use of mobile-phones influenced by culture? How has privacy changed from landlines to mobile lines?
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Mike
RW3 CultureWizard
I wonder how many of you who watched the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics were struck, as I was, by how it is simultaneously the most global of events and yet the most nationally chauvinistic. Unlike the world that most of us live in, where intercultural cooperation is the pursuit and the prize, the Olympics emphasize competition between cultures and nations. The great irony, of course, is that globalization has taken the edge away from many national advantages that competing countries used to have. There are now many athletes and coaches playing and working across national lines. For example, the seismic shift from Russia to North America in awards for ice dancing (Canada taking gold and US taking silver) was aided by a pair of Russian émigré coaches. Many of the biathlon medalists are from France, Germany and Russia, despite the event’s obscure origins in the Norwegian military. The US team also made it to the podium for the first time in 86 years by winning a silver medal in the Nordic combined event, thanks to a new mixture of experts devoted to the sport. All of this provides additional testimony to the power of globalization and its continuous impact. Let us know your thoughts.
