Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It Has Transformed Everything!: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It

by Paul Levinson

Although the Internet takes us everywhere in cyberspace, it usually requires us to be seated behind a desk. In contrast, the cellphone lets us walk through the world, fully connected. Cellphone explores the history of mobility in media--from books to cameras to transistor radios to laptops--and examines the unique impact of a device that sits in a pocket or palm, and lets us converse by voice or text. The restricting and liberating edge of accessibility...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1403960410
• ISBN13: 9781403960412
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

very easy read

I read this book and I find it very useful. I love how author easily transfer his thoughts on paper. it`s very easy to read and when you read it you remember it. I think this is a good book for your home library if you interested in the topic. I also recommended going to yodaphone.com for additional info on cell phone ratings

Good book but not what I had in mind.

Paul Levinson is a gifted writer in my opinion. He has a lively style and conveys his ideas very effectively. When I bought this book, I thought (for some reason) that I was buying a book that recounted the development and technical characteristics of this powerful new media (the cellphone). It turned out that the book is devoted to the possibilities and potential of the cellphone along with some of the situations you are likely to encounter while using it. It compares the cellphone with other means of communication (mainly the computer with Internet access and the regular telephone) plus it presents some historical background on all these means of communication that preceded the cellphone. In the end, I am still glad that I bought and read this book.

Clear, concise examination of cellphones in society.

A clear and approachable historical study of the impact of cellphones on society and culture, Levinson's text is an strong contribution to an emerging field of research. Although it is in some respects, tainted by the author's personal status, this also allows him to use his real world examples to paint a clear picture of what it is like to live in a world where you can always make contact with others, but can also always be contacted. This is not to suggest that the text is in any way deficient in theory or research, which is woven carefully throughout the text, accompanied by an annotated and accessible Bibliography. At times it would have been helpful for referencing to be in-text, although his does digress where appropriate and helpful in-text. Levinson's strongest appeal is that we need to consider cultural relations around cellphone use (such as accepting the desire to ignore incoming calls) and not just legislate around them. This is an important point to consider, in societies where camera and video phones can be carried and used almost anywhere, provoking not just a degree of freedom, but public and private fears around invasions of privacy. Thoroughly readable and filled with some wonderful imagry and creative language, Levinson's "Cellphone" is an important contribution in a time when technology is increasingly mobilising throughout our lives.

Levinson is a McLuhan for the 21st Century

A comprehensive look at the jangling god that rules our lives. Levinson knows exactly what he's talking about, and his insights ring true (if you'll forgive the pun). There's a reason CNN, the Wall Steet Journal, and the New York Times keep turning to this guy for commentary. Anybody who's reading Stephen King's new novel CELL will find this a fascinating companion volume. About the only complaint I have is that this book deserved a much better cover.