Locating mobility: practices of co-presence and the persistence of the postal metaphor in SMS/MMS mobile phone customization in Melbourne

Abstract

One of the marked features of ICT's (Information and Communication Technologies) mobility (literal and electronic) is the role of customization in location (Castells, 2001; Manovich, 2001). When we think of "customizing" mobile phones we often summon up an image of techno-savvy places such as Tokyo where the outside of the mobile phone (keitai) is adorned with a plethora of cute (kawaii) characters in, for example, the style of Hello Kitty. Indeed, much of the Asia-Pacific region seems characterized by seemingly every form of mobile phone adornment. One could be mistaken, then, for thinking that Melbourne is out of place in the mobile flows of the region. However, Melbourne demonstrates that customization can also occur inside the mobile phone. Customization is not just a matter of wallpapers and ringtones. It is also the case that customizing of applications such as SMS (Short Message Service) speaks of specific processes of subjectivity, cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984[1979]; McVeigh, 2003) and locality (Massey, 1993). Such internal customization operates as an important mode for users to become active producers in the extension of conventions of the emerging genre.