The Global Smartphone

The smartphone is often literally right in front of our nose, so you would think we would know what it is. But do we? To find out, 11 anthropologists each spent 16 months living in communities in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, focusing on the take up of smartphones by older people. Their research reveals that smartphones are technology for everyone, not just for the young.

The Global Smartphone presents a series of original perspectives deriving from this global and comparative research project. Smartphones have become as much a place within which we live as a device we use to provide ‘perpetual opportunism’, as they are always with us. The authors show how the smartphone is more than an ‘app device’ and explore differences between what people say about smartphones and how they use them.

The smartphone is unprecedented in the degree to which we can transform it. As a result, it quickly assimilates personal values. In order to comprehend it, we must take into consideration a range of national and cultural nuances, such as visual communication in China and Japan, mobile money in Cameroon and Uganda, and access to health information in Chile and Ireland – all alongside diverse trajectories of ageing in Al Quds, Brazil and Italy. Only then can we know what a smartphone is and understand its consequences for people’s lives around the world.

Praise for The Global Smartphone

‘Interesting ethnographic insights into the use of the smartphone.’
European Journal of Communication

‘ethnographically rich… lavishly illustrated not only with color photographs but with links to helpful, short videos the authors filmed’
Journal of Anthropological Research

‘Laced with ethnographic vignettes, images and screenshots of devices, and infographics of smartphone usage across sites and written in a highly accessible language devoid of heavy academic jargon, The Global Smartphone makes for an interesting read. This book offers a much needed contribution to the literature on smartphone adoption amongst older populations. It will be of interest to scholars working in the field of aging and gerontology, elder care, social change, media and communication. Being published open access will ensure its reach to a wider audience.’
Anthropology and Aging

‘a rich and nuanced portrayal of how smartphones are engaged in different contexts’
International Journal of Communication