The Extremes of Mobile Phone Commodification

I literally had to rub my eyes when I saw this packet of biscuits at my local supermarket; then I just had to have them!

So I purchased a pack of Paradise Foods "Mobile Fones" chocolate biscuits.

What a fantastic cultural artifact this turned out to be, demonstrating the extent to which mobile phones, aside from any functionality or purpose, have become commodified by market forces. I do not know in what other countries - if any - these biscuits are available. What was most interesting to me, aside from the fact that they appeared to have picked mobile phones as the topic of their biscuits for no logical reason (save economic or marketing studies no doubt), but they manner in which semiotics are deployed on the packaging - the second skin of commodification.

Clearly the consumer group whom is target by this product is children, and in a much more direct manner than through parents. The language deployed on the packaging - including 'squeeze-text' or 'txt' (Carrington, 2005) or 'acronymy' (Bodomo & Lee, 2002), along with personification of the mobile phone itself, is clearly aimed at a younger audience; those whom are tech and mobile savvy.

The first thing that I immediately noticed, apart from the bright colours and picture of a happy, smiling mobile phone on the packet, was the sub-title to the product name, curiously written the the abbreviated language of SMS.

"gr8 fone shapd bizkits w choc 4 u 2 njoy"

Whilst this message is fairly straight forward, even for those relatively uninitiated in the language of SMS, it is a fairly clear appeal to a particular audience. The designers of this product - the packaging in particular - have intentionally deployed a language form generally associated with younger, more tech-savvy 'digital natives' (Prensky, Don't Bother Me Mum - I'm Learning! 2006). This is part of a clear attempt to relate to the consumer on the basis of identity and group association, through a use of their own language, as opposed to the expected language of 'the establishment'. By speaking to young people on their level, using their language, the marketers are clearly acting in a manipulative manner that is not all that unexpected in modern consumer-media culture.

The second point which I found most interesting about this cultural artifact, was the manner in which the technology of the mobile phone was acquired and commodified as a mascot for Paradise Foods through the persona of "Moby".

The first encounter that the consumer has with Moby is encountering his smiling face on the front of the packet. There is nothing new about this marketing ploy of course: smiling faces and images that engender feelings of happiness have been an overbearing feature of the commercial sector since the development of its modern manifestation in the twentieth century. The reduction of the mobile phone as a technology to a mere character is an interesting way in which mobile telephony generally seems to be being normalized in this cultural artifact. The further description of Moby on the back of the packet, adds further depth to his character, but also reveals a more disturbing aspect to this commodity: its intended audience.

I have already suggested that in deploying SMS language, this cultural artifact is clearly allying itself with youth culture through their lens of language. Turning to the Moby profile reveals more about the intended consumer of this product:

"Meet Moby
Moby is a cool little dude choc-full of playful energy. He just loves to keep on the move, getting connected with his mates and having fun along the way. Paradise Kidz Mobile Fones have a great chocolate taste and are fun to share wherever you may be.
www.paradise4kidz.com.au "

I know that when I first read this small outline I could not get over the connotations drawn with being mobile and connected("...keep on the move...wherever you may be..."), friendship ("...with his mates...") and play/fun ("...playful energy...having fun...fun to share..."), and how this is cleverly linked in with the qualities of the product. Not only is the language clearly directed at a young audience - pre-teen - but once again, there is the suggestion of a shared cultural identity with their audience.

Clearly, Paradise Foods, as indicated by their website, is engaged in a process of constructing a culture around their products, based very much on appealing to the interests, identities and affiliations of young people. I also wonder who notices the website for paradise foods on the back of the packet and goes to it: kids? Parents? It does seem highly superficial to conscript a seemingly innocuous device such as a mobile phone to advertise a packet of chocolate biscuits, but this is not a new phenomenon by far. Consider the relevance of some well-known brand icons to their actual product: Coco Pops, Rice Bubbles, Fruit Loops. Additionally consider the manner in which popular cultural icons, such as movie and television show characters are co-opted for marketing purposes: McDonalds' happy meals are the ideal example of this (featuring regular toys from the latest release movies, or other fad). In this context, the move to have mobile phone biscuits is not that strange at all.

But it it strange in another way: introducing children to technologies in the form of play, yet technologies which essentially have an economic dimension. It is a curious irony that whilst the marketing around the mobile phone in this context is based on fun and freedom, the economic aspect of purchasing the biscuits, or a real phone, is something that can impinge upon that fun and freedom: what happens when mum says no, she will not buy the biscuits for the kid?

Here we have a true indication of the manner in which mobile phones have become an accepted and at times, invisible part of our everyday lives. Just as Davide, Dario and Tal revel in their "Fashion Victims" research, by "...Subverting the everyday behaviour of an everyday object..." Can change the light in which we see a cultural artifact. In this case, the nature of the mobile phone as a cultural artifact is revealed: one that is linked with young people, fun, freedom and friendship.

I wonder how mobile phones will manifest themselves throughout consumer-media culture as they become even more ubiquitous.

Pre-Mobile Blogging

I am about to attempt something new, at least for myself - blogging via my mobile phone. I am aware of the LifeBlog software developed by Nokia, but I don’t have this program, and want to experiment with an authentic, real-life situation: accessing an established blog via a mobile technology.

I expect problems. My phone - a Samsung E730 - accesses web content via GPRS. I know that this is somewhat like a verson of WAP language, which will only serve to exacerbate translation changes from HTTP format used for PC. Therefore, some of the problems I expect will relate to the specific device that I am using: problems with translation, display of images, sounds. Also ruled out would be accessing web pages with a large format, size or complex content, due to download times.

I am however, also expecting changes in the literacy practices I deploy in typing a blog on a mobile phone. Not only is the input method (phone key-pad) not something I am especially adept at, but the small size of the screen may also effect the manner in which I express/explain my opinions. The difficulty in scrolling and reviewing all that has been written is no mere flick of they eye further up the page, but instead requires a good deal of sorting through information more delicately perhaps than on a computer or in hard copy.

The web page may not display properly, or I may be unable to access the correct menus to enter the blog writing section. This is all experimental, for although I was able to access some of the website on my mobile phone last night, I came up against a problem when I couldn’t remember the password (which I had not changed to one I could remember), thus necessitating me having to go to the computer to check my email - this feature being unavailable on my phone.

As regards situational considerations: I am purposefully NOT selecting a specific time or place to try this little experiment out. The very essence of mobile technologies is that they can be used anywhere, anytime (Levinson, Cellphone, 2003). As such, it is important for the authenticity of this work, that the blog be completed in an indeterminate, as yet unplanned context. How this will effect the easy of use of the technology and the nature and quality of the blog, is yet to be seen.

I do not know if this pre-writing before mobile blogging will help, or if I have even covered all the areas that will impact on my literacy practices. I guess the only way to find out is to try: I will then reflect on the both the event of mobile blogging (including texts-in-the-making) as well as the artifact created (the mobile blog).

Let’s just hope that I can even access the site, or all this babbling will have come to naught!

Technology & Emergent Literacies in 'Times of Instability'

What are we going to uncover when we decide to examine what literacy is becoming, is continuously becoming? It is duly acknowledged that the nature of literacy as a concept is something of continuous debate, especially in these times of ‘instability’, as Kress would say (Literacy in the New Media Age, 2003). The increasing extent to which information and communication is electronically mediated is encouraging changes, not just in the way that language (either written or verbal) is being used, but in the way the individual citizens within a given culture relate to each other.

Space and time constraints on human communication is increasingly losing its power, especially with the increasing expansion of mobile technologies. And it is here I turn to a major focus of my research, an obsession of my academic identity: the ways in which mobile technologies, in their wide variety of forms, are changing literacy practices. This interest has required deep thought and contemplation on just what ‘literacy’ is. Should I be drawn by historical imperatives to return this study to focus on written language? Or like James Paul Gee and Victoria Carrington, am I going to seek to expand it’s focus beyond the confines of the linguistic domain? (Carrington, V. (2005). “Txting: the end of civilization (again)?” Cambridge Journal of Education, 25(2), 172).
In the face of the increasing complexity of human behaviour around mobile technologies, and their continual penetration into all areas of our lives, I must acknowledge that ‘literacy’ must develop as a concept to cover the multimodal nature of human communication. It seemed strange to me upon first realising it, that the New London Group (”A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies,” 1996) and others following in the Multiliteracies tradition (eg. Kress, 2003), should firstly acknowledge the essential link between literacy and social practice, and secondly, the multimodal nature of human social interaction, and then turn and seek to restrict the focus of study through chaining literacy to its written form.

I don’t know if the approach of expanding literacy is any better. There is the feeling within academia that with over-use of a term leads to a reduction in the rigor of its meaning. By extending literacy to cover multiple modes of communication, are we devaluing or reducing it’s value in some way? This is hard to believe when what I am seeking to do is add to its complexity and tie literacy into social practice even more closely.

This is where the idea of ‘emergent literacies’ came from for the heading. I realise that the idea of ‘emergent literacies’ has received a good deal of discussion and coverage throughout educational literature. The terms sparks glimmers of recognition in my mind: “I know I have read about this somewhere…but where?” In using the term in the manner in which I have, I am seeking to use it to mean two things, both indicated in the term ‘emergent’. Firstly, we seek to understand literacy practices that are ‘emerging’ as a result of increasing electronic-mediation of information/communication, as well as the increasing diversity of voices in a globally connected world. As a result - and especially with relation to mobile technologies - I am seeking to understand the literacy practices that are emerging in this changing time.

However, ‘emergent’ is also taken to mean something more continuous and ever-present. In acknowledging that literacy is essentially linked to social practice, ’situational considerations’ (Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, 2003) or ‘frames’ (Kress, 2003) - context - become vitally important. Therefore, we continuously have literacy practices being reworked, transformed by individuals to suit specific situations. In this respect, literacy is continuously emerging - somewhat analogous to Derrida’s concept of ‘deferral’ (is that where that term came from?) - in relation to texts or ‘texts-in-the-making’ (Kress, 2003, 88). This is of course, taking a very poststructural/postmodern approach to the concept of text. But when considering mobile technologies can we do anything but.

Consider the types of ‘texts’ that can be presented or accessed on devices such as iPods (and Mp3 players generally), mobile phones (cellphones), portable gaming consoles (eg. GameBoy, PSP), PDAs. Few of the texts accessed or created here conform to traditionalist concepts. So what are we left with in relation to the emerging relationship between mobile technologies and literacy? What literacy practices are deployed in using these devices as part of social practice? How does an individual decide the ‘aptness’ (Kress, 2003) of a mode to use for a specific communication in changing and unstable situational contexts?

For me, so far, the mobility of these devices, their ability to be used across mutable spaces, has the greatest impact on literacy practices. What emergent literacy practices students are demonstrating in response to mobile technologies, is still an are in need of a great deal of research. I am seeking to understand and construct a concept of “mobile literacies” - what this entails is a matter of continuous discovery.