About the Book
What shapes the role of Information and Communication Technologies in our everyday life? Despite the speed with which information and communication technologies such as the PC, mobile telephone and internet have found their way into society, there remains a good deal of debate surrounding their adoption and use. Through empirical studies covering a broad range of everyday life and work settings, this volume provides grounded insights into the social dynamics influencing how ICTs are both shaped and experienced.
Specifically, the book examines the contributions of diverse disciplines to our understanding of these processes, the symbolic nature of technologies, the influence of design on the experience of ICTs, the role of users in influencing that design, the social constraints affecting the use of those technologies, and strategies for evaluating the social consequences of ICT innovations.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction, Leslie Haddon, Enid Mante-Meijer and Eugène Loos. Part I Disciplinary Insights into the Social Dynamics of Innovation and Domestication: Computer anxiety in daily life: old history?, John Beckers, Henk Schmidt and Jelte Wicherts; ICTs and the human body: an empirical study in 5 countries, Alberta Contarello, Leopoldina Fortunati, Perdo Gomez Fernandez, Enid Mante-Meijer, Olga Vershinskaya and Daniel Volovici; The adoption of terrestrial digital TV: technology push, political will or users' choice?, Tomaz Turk, Bartolomeo Sapio and Isabella Maria Palombini; The flexible room: technology for communication and personalisation, Marianne Jensen, Heidi Rognskog Mella and Kristin Thrane. Part II The Internet as a Tool to Enable Users to Organise Everyday Life: Uses of the family internet sites: a virtual community between intimate space and public space, Fanny Carmagnat, Julie Deville and Aurélia Mardon; Legal self-help and the internet, Lieve Gies; On older people, internet access and electronic service delivery: a study of sheltered homes, Maria Sourbati. Part III ICTs in Organisational Settings: A Tool or a Curse?: Resistance to innovation: a case study, Raija Halonen; Using ICT in human service organisations: an enabling constraint? Social workers, new technology and their organisation, Eugène Loos; The impact of ICT implementations on social interaction in work communities, Niina Rintala. Part IV The Future: The Boundaries Between Work and Non-Work Life: There is no business like small business: the use and meaning of ICTs for micro-enterprises, Jo Pierson; Teleworking behind the front door: the patterns and meaning of telework in the everyday lives of workers, Arjan de Jong and Enid Mante-Meijer. Part V Future Developments: Enabling humans to control the ethical behaviour of persuasive agents, Boldur Barbat, Andrei Moiceanu and Hermina Anghelescu; Challenging sensory impairment, Keith Gladstone; Conclusion, Enid Mante-Meijer, Leslie Haddon and Eugène Loos; Index.
About the Author :
Eugene Loos is Professor of Old and New Media in an Ageing Society in the Department of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Enid Mante-Meijer was Lecturer at the Utrecht School of Governance, The Netherlands. Leslie Haddon is Research Associate in the Media and Communications Department at the London School of Economics, UK. Leslie Haddon, Enid Mante-Meijer, Eugene Loos, John Beckers, Henk Schmidt, Jelte Wicherts, Alberta Contarello, Leopoldina Fortunati, Perdo Gomez Fernandez, Olga Vershinskaya, Daniel Volovici, Tomaz Turk, Bartolomeo Sapio, Isabella Maria Palombini, Marianne Jensen, Heidi Rognskog Mella, Kristin Thrane, Fanny Carmagnat, Julie Deville, Aurelia Mardon, Maria Sourbat, Raija Halonen, Niina Rintala, Jo Pierson, Arjan de Jong,, Boldur Barbat, Andrei Moiceanu and Hermina Anghelescu.
Review :
'This book provides unique insights into the adoption and use of ICTs. In contrast to the common generalisations about the impact of technology on society, this fascinating collection of original studies shows that we can only really understand ICTs by looking at how they are adopted and used in everyday life settings. The book provides a valuable resource for anyone seriously interested in the implications of new technologies.' Judy Wajcman, Australian National University 'With a pan-European perspective and drawing on empirical, conceptual and design studies, this book provides a range of insights into the deeper stories surrounding the emergence of the European e-Society. This excellent collection should be read by researchers, policy makers and commercial decision makers who are grappling with the role of ICTs in everyday life and by students seeking to carry out innovative "society and technology" research.' Ben Anderson, Director, University of Essex, UK '...an excellent collection of empirical studies covering a broad range of everyday life and work settings. The book provides grounded insights into the social dynamics influencing the shaping of ICTs and how they are experienced. It should be read by researchers, policy makers and commercial decision makers who are grappling with the role of ICTs in everyday life. It should also be read by students seeking to carry out innovative "society and technology" research.' The Electronic Library 'The book should be commended for combining the contributions of so many different authors and containing studies the reader would not have otherwise heard of, from countries that are usually off the publications map. Most of the contributions are written in such a way that they are accessible for even those completely unfamiliar with the particular subject area of the chapter... The variety of approaches and topics makes the potential reader base for this book very broad. Some contributions deal with very practical issues and would thus be informative for practitioners and policy-makers, others are clearly academically focused... The book succeeds in stressing the importance of an informed perspective of ICTs in whichever field of social science and praxis one is involved. It certainly makes the reader realize that 'it is important to be aware of their [ICTs] mixed potentiality'.' Information, Communication & Society
