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.
Author(s): E. Loos, Leslie Haddon and Enid Mante-Meijer
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 244
Contents......Page 6
List of Figures......Page 8
List of Tables......Page 10
Notes on Editors and Contributors......Page 12
Introduction......Page 18
PART I: DISCIPLINARY INSIGHTS INTO THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF INNOVATION AND DOMESTICATION......Page 28
1 Computer Anxiety in Daily Life: Old History?......Page 30
2 ICTs and the Human Body: An Empirical Study in Five Countries......Page 42
3 The Adoption of Terrestrial Digital TV: Technology Push, Political Will or Users’ Choice?......Page 56
4 The Flexible Room: Technology for Communication and Personalisation......Page 72
PART II: THE INTERNET AS A TOOL TO ENABLE USERS TO ORGANISE EVERYDAY LIFE......Page 88
5 Uses of the Family Internet Sites: A Virtual Community between Intimate Space and Public Space......Page 90
6 Legal Self-help and the Internet......Page 100
7 On Older People, Internet Access and Electronic Service Delivery: A Study of Sheltered Homes......Page 112
PART III: ICTS IN ORGANISATIONAL SETTINGS: A TOOL OR A CURSE?......Page 122
8 Resistance to Innovation: A Case Study......Page 124
9 Using ICT in Human Service Organisations: An Enabling Constraint? Social Workers, New Technology and their Organisation......Page 136
10 The Impact of ICT Implementations on Social Interaction in Work Communities......Page 150
PART IV: THE FUTURE: THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN WORK AND NON-WORK LIFE......Page 168
11 There is no Business like Small Business: The Use and Meaning of ICTs for Micro-enterprises......Page 170
12 Teleworking Behind the Front Door: The Patterns and Meaning of Telework in the Everyday Lives of Workers......Page 188
PART V: FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS......Page 206
13 Enabling Humans to Control the Ethical Behaviour of Persuasive Agents......Page 208
14 Challenging Sensory Impairment......Page 222
Conclusion......Page 234
E......Page 240
I......Page 241
O......Page 242
S......Page 243
Z......Page 244
