themes

Here are some of my notes about themes from yesterday's class.

I'd like us to try and aggregate and prioritize several themes to code for in the transcripts.

This list is long. See what you can do to combine and/or eliminate. I'd like to try and settle on a list of themes by end of the day Friday, okay?

Best,
Beth

Themes identified by the group:

Concern about money affecting purchasing decisions
Genrealized concern over money
Trust issues and reliance on friends
Trust in authority or distrust in authority
Loss of control (separated out from money issues)
Sense of etiquette in using phone
Anxiety about change:
Due to current event
Due to generational gaps
Due to technology
Transportation (going places)
Group social activities (vacation, social events, social aspects of shopping, having friend come over to look at computer)
Phone use for weak social ties
Phone use for strong social ties
Phone for sense of security
Phone for official/work/business use
Phone as tool for surveillance
Phone as maintaining family bonds and sense of security (separate out?)
Phone as facilitator of social bonds with friends
Phone as way to get services
Mobile phone as replacement for public phone
Phone as tool for planning
Phones and quality of life
Augmenting or extending closeness (physically or socially).
Gettings things done in a place where it is difficult to get things done
Phones as gifts
How people expressed emotion
Feeling lost or frustrated. Stress (maybe ties into anxiety?)
Geographical and spatial distance
Financial constraints that direct phone use
Other values that constrain usage

Here's an interesting app for mobile phones

Ring! Ring! It's time to make love

A NEW mobile phone available through Japan's NTT DoCoMo can ring to let would-be mothers know when they reach the most fertile part of their monthly reproductive cycles.

Motorola and user dissatisfaction

Ease-of-use dogs Moto

In the survey of 55 Motorola customers, 78% said they wouldn't buy a Motorola handset again, with the majority citing problems with usability. The figure was slightly higher among first-time Motorola users. As many as 85% of the 48 first-time Motorola users in the poll want to switch to another manufacturer.

Do you think this has further implications for other mobile phone manufacturers or companies that provide mobile services?