I tend to think that mobile technologies are making salient the importance of attending to the pervasive aspects of any technology. In the long run I suspect that conversations about immersion (i.e., the potential for Second Life, etc.) will be replaced by discussions about pervasive technologies (mobile devices, game consoles, etc.) in fields like the Learning Sciences. However, we are still very much in the infancy stages of developing methods for studying mobile devices in use. Here are some useful tips from AnswerLab on how to collect data on mobile device use in the lab and “in the wild.”
Or will I just end up creating a password that I won’t remember tomorrow?
The password you entered is not valid
Please note that the password must respect the following rules:
It must contain between 6 and 12 characters. Use only characters from the following set: ! # $ % & ( ) * + , – . / 0123456789 : ; < = > ? @ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ [ \ ] _ ` abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz { | } ~
It must contain at least 4 lowercase letter(s) (abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz).
It must contain at least 2 numeric character(s) (0123456789).
It must not contain more than 2 identical consecutive characters (AAA, iiii, $$$$$ …).
It must not contain your user name.
It must not contain your email address.
It must not contain your first name.
It must not contain your last name.
Photo by joi on Flickr
A 13 year old tries out the Walkman for a week.
On the form factor:
From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.
On learning to use the antique:
It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.
Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn’t is “shuffle”, where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down “rewind” and releasing it randomly – effective, if a little laboured.
I told my dad about my clever idea. His words of warning brought home the difference between the portable music players of today, which don’t have moving parts, and the mechanical playback of old. In his words, “Walkmans eat tapes”. So my clumsy clicking could have ended up ruining my favourite tape, leaving me music-less for the rest of the day.
