Smart Mobs: The Next Social RevolutionFrom Tokyo to Helsinki, Manhattan to Manila, Howard Rheingold takes us on a journey around the world for a preview of the next techno-cultural shift-a shift he predicts will be as dramatic as the widespread adoption of the PC in the 1980s and the Internet in the 1990s. The coming wave, says Rheingold, is the result of super-efficient mobile communications-cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and wireless-paging and Internet-access devices that will allow us to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. From the amusing ("Lovegetty" devices in Japan that light up when a person with the right date-potential characteristics appears in the vicinity) to the extraordinary (the overthrow of a repressive regime in the Philippines by political activists who mobilized by forwarding text messages via cell phones), Rheingold gives examples of the fundamentally new ways in which people are already engaging in group or collective action. He also considers the dark side of this phenomenon, such as the coordination of terrorist cells, threats to privacy, and the ability to incite violent behavior. Applying insights from sociology, artificial intelligence, engineering, and anthropology, Rheingold offers a penetrating perspective on the brave new convergence of pop culture, cutting-edge technology, and social activism. At the same time, he reminds us that, as with other technological revolutions, the real impact of mobile communications will come not from the technology itself but from how people use it, resist it, adapt to it, and ultimately use it to transform themselves, their communities, and their institutions. |
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23 February 29 March behavior Bluetooth broadband broadcast building called cell phones chips cities connections cooperation create culture cyborg Doctorow eBay electronic emergent enable environment evolution future global Gnutella handheld Helsinki Howard Rheingold human i-mode Ibid individual infrastructure innovation interaction Internet access interview by author January Kortuem Lawrence Lessig Linturi looking Mann Media Lab Microsoft million Mizuko Ito mobile and pervasive mobile communications mobile devices mobile Internet mobile phone mobile telephone Napster Natsuno nodes nologies NYCWireless peer-to-peer physical player possible Prisoner's Dilemma puter radio Reed's Law reputation systems screen self-organizing server share Shibuya smart mob smart mob technologies social networks space spectrum started surveillance tech technical teenagers text messages tion Tokyo Usenet users virtual communities wearable computer WiFi Wired wireless Internet wireless networks York