ABSTRACT
The mobile phone is one of the most ubiquitous objects around the world. When mobile phones were introduced in 1979 to mass markets, they were an expensive technology available largely to wealthy business people living and working in industrialized contexts. The cost and capabilities of a mobile phone and the quality of the mobile network and associated services to operate varies considerably across countries and contexts. When mobiles entered the mass consumer market, voice was the primary functionality. Phones were often large and cumbersome and, especially in Europe and North America, often doubled as ‘car phones’ that enabled business persons and others to make calls while driving from point to point. Mobile phones have played – and are perceived to have played – an important role in intimate relationships. Mobile phones have become part of the everyday communication landscape of people around the world.
