On the Future of Mobile Phones as the Heart of Community-Built Databases - Community-Built Databases: Research and Development - page 264

changed over the years. The report shows that the use of mobile phones among
teens had escalated from 45% in 2004 to 63% in 2006 and 71% in 2008. And how
do mobile phones stand up against the adoption of other technologies?
l 77% of teens own a game console (Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii)
l 74% of teens own a MP3 player (iPod or similar)
l 71% of teens own a mobile phone
l 60% of teens own a computer
l 55% of teens own a portable game console (PSP, Nintendo DS)
Figures show a very high penetration of mobile phones among teenagers,
increasing rapidly to reach the penetration of game consoles, a more children-
oriented technology.
11.3 Mobile Phone Culture
In addition to their important contribution to industry, mobile phones have acquired
a fundamental and distinctive role in today's societies, contributing to the transfor-
mation of relationships, work, leisure, family, sexualities, globalization, etc. Mobile
phones have played a significant role in mobilizing crowds and changing history
[ 36 ]. As an example, in March 2004, one day before the Spanish general elections, a
public demonstration against the war in Iraq was convoked via text messages sent
by mobile phones (SMS). This action had such a great impact on Spanish society
that the final result of the elections was completely different from the predictions
made several days previously. Hence, the great and widespread interest in mobile
phones among media producers, industry, artists, educators, and policy makers.
Mobile phones have an impact on our cultures in several ways including:
l Social interaction
l Commercial identity
l Protecting privacy
l Politics and Government
l Economy
11.3.1 Mobile Phones and Social Interaction
Mobile phones play a very important role in the interplay between the public and
private spheres of life. It has made it more difficult to separate work from private
life as an employee's mobile phone is required to be turned on 24 h a day as a way
of locating employees to solve companies' issues. Mobile phones also play an
important role in making friends and arranging to meet other people. It is very
common to arrange a date or a meeting via SMS as text messages via mobile phones