Description
What to do:
Choose one of the following three categories1 of mobile media technologies
produced or developed before 2007. Some examples in the different categories
could be:
- A particular device
• Pre-iPhone smartphone
• Mobile feature phone
• Portable digital assistant (PDA)
• Game console
• Media player - Mobile software
• An app for an early feature phone or smartphone
• Software for a PDA
• File types or formats that have specific relevance to mobile media - A specific medium
• A physical container for audio or visual content (cassette tape, CD, MD,
etc.)
• Storage used in mobile devices (SIM card, SD or other sort of flash
memory)
• Mobile software that is embedded in a specific physical form (e.g. a
game software cartridge)
Do some basic online and/or library research into the media you select. Use your
research to try and address most of the following questions:
• Where was it developed?
• Who was it designed for/marketed to?
• How does it work?
• What other media or technologies does it rely on?
• Does it still work the same way today? Has it been replaced by more recent
media or practices?
• Has it had any lasting cultural effects or legacy?
In answering these questions, be sure to relate them to one or more of the themes
covered in the readings from week 2: culture, meaning, and signifying practices;
the politics of media artifacts; affordances and the environment of expected use;
convergence; and the design of hardware in constraining the uses of media.
1 Please note: Categories 2 and 3 may be slightly more advanced by way of being a little more
technical/abstract. I didn’t want to discourage these possible interpretations of “mobile media,” but
they may be a little more involved or unfamiliar.
1
What to turn in:
A short (around 500 words in length) profile that briefly describes the media
technology that you chose, and addresses the questions above through the
methodological approaches detailed in the week’s readings.
Sample Solution