Mobile media: from legato to staccato, isochronal consumptionscapes

Abstract

Mobile devices in the form of smartphones are transforming the temporality of consumption experiences, from languid and legato forms to isochronal and staccato forms. New communication technologies accelerate as well as alter mobile consumptionscapes. Rather than attempting to capture the elusive here-and-now essence of such fast-changing scenes, this essay invokes three historical episodes of technology and mobility -the transistor radio, the Walkman-style cassette device, and the MP3 player -to uncover the patterns that enhanced levels of mobility bring to the media consumption experience. In particular, by illuminating matters of time, some temporal framings are offered as correctives to spatially biased theories of mobile media. Drawing lessons from these historical episodes and blending in contemporary social theories about mobile technologies, we arrive at a temporally oriented view of the emergent consumptionscapes that can contribute to understanding the present era and the proximal future in terms of connecting both places and paces.

Mobile News Consumption

“…This study investigated news consumption on mobile devices with the goal of identifying where mobile devices fit into people's media repertoires and how consumption patterns on them are different from those on other platforms. This was brought about based on observations that mobile news consumption is often characterized by brevity, frequency, distraction, and low attention (Dimmick, Feaster, and Hoplamazian 2011;Dholakia, Reyes, and Bonoff 2014;Bayer and Campbell 2012). Literature suggests that people use their smartphones to grab bits of news here and there, filling gaps in their day with sporadic news consumption.…”

“…The above literature, observation and logic suggest that the mobile news consumption experience is likely to be characterized by brevity, frequency, distraction, and low attention (Dimmick, Feaster, and Hoplamazian 2011;Dholakia, Reyes, and Bonoff 2014;Bayer and Campbell 2012). These studies suggest that people squeeze mobile news sessions into otherwise unoccupied gaps in their day.…”

“…This suggests that news consumption patterns on mobile devices may be different from those on other platforms. Indeed, scholars have posited that because mobile phones and their mobile internet connections allow users control over time (when to consume content) and space (where to consume content), smartphone users should be more likely to exhibit short, burst-like consumption patterns, rather than sustained sessionsa difference described as "staccato" rather than "legato" (Dholakia, Reyes, and Bonoff 2014). There is some evidence of this consumption pattern in action, especially in relation to the news.…”

“…These studies suggest that people squeeze mobile news sessions into otherwise unoccupied gaps in their day. Media consumption on mobile devices happens most often in intermittent, burst-like and dispersed consumption moments (Dholakia, Reyes, and Bonoff 2014). People's interactions with their mobile devices are often driven by alerts and notifications that incentivize brief check-ins.…”

Smart consumers come undone: breakdowns in the process of digital agencing

“…These devices have changed the way consumers shop while in-store, reconfiguring the ways in which they approach and use retail space (Fuentes, Bäckström, & Svingstedt, 2017), additionally enabling more mobile forms of shopping on-the-go . Over and above shopping, smartphones have also become an integral part of health and fitness practices (Canhoto & Arp, 2017), influential music listening devices (Dholakia, Reyes, & Bonoff, 2015), and crucial devices for socialisation and the managing of family relations (Marchant & O'Donohoe, 2014). Smartphones have also been used successfully in the promotion of more sustainable ways of consuming, assisting consumers in their ethical choices (Hansson, 2017) and enabling them both to trace commodity chains and to question company narratives (Graham & Haarstad, 2011), or serving as tools for the construction and communication of ethical selves (Fuentes & Sörum, 2019).…”