Stross Notes On Emerging Technology
Traditional fixed land-lines connect places, not people; you dial a number and it puts you through to a room in a building somewhere, and you hope the person you want to talk to is there.
Mobile phones in contrast connect people, not places. You don’t necessarily know where the person at the other end of the line is, what room in which building they’re in, but you know who they are.
This has interesting social effects. Sometimes it’s benign; you never have to wonder if someone you’re meeting is lost or unable to find the venue, you never lose track of people. On the other hand, it has bad effects, especially when combined with other technologies: bullying via mobile phone is rife in British schools, and “happy slapping” wouldn’t be possible without them. (Assaulting people while an accomplice films it with a cameraphone, for the purpose of sending the movie footage around — often used for intimidation, sometimes used just for vicarious violent fun.)
Reminder: read in entirety later. Stross is looking into the damn future.
