Mobile Phones- A Study of Law, Technology and Society Relationship

Introduction:

Emerging technologies have substantial impacts on the social behavior, polity and economy.
In the rapidly developing techno-crazy world, a technological artefact exerts itself into a
social materiality and influences law and society as a whole. The relationship between law,
science and technology is present everywhere and has become increasingly complex. It is
vividly manifested for instance in traffic signals, bar codes in goods, passports, surveillance
cameras, door locks etc. The connections between them is also seen in social spaces like
laboratories, court rooms, crime scenes, factories etc. As the relationship continuously evolve
with ever increasing technological advancement, it is an academic challenge to study and
comprehend the relationship. In this paper, we are going to study Mobile phones as
technological artefact, its physical dimensions and social relationships, political implications,
market and legal influences. It will investigate the use of mobile phones as a cultural material
artefact by different consumers of different class. Under the premise of the symbolic, cultural
and artefactual nature of the technology, the paper will study the materiality of the mobile
phone as used by different groups of consumers. The paper will also study the ontological
development of the artefact through the study of social construction of technology (SCOT) as
developed by Pinch and Bijker. Little research attention has been given to how new
technologies can be used in wider context of specific research challenges and epistemological
implications of using them. The paper will also further explore the use of mobile phones in
research problems, its ontological and epistemological impacts. In short, we are going to
study mobile phones within law-science-technology-society (LSTS) relationships.

Thick description- Social and Cultural Context:

Mobile phones are portable digital device used for wireless communication over cellular
network and support other services like instant messaging, email, internet access, software
applications, video games and digital photography. The device has evolved drastically from
just a telephonic device to smartphones which can now do multiple tasks and is no less than a
personal assistant. The process of evolution of the mobile phones according to the necessities
and demands of the users will be studied later in the paper through SCOT. The study of the
physical dimensions of the device is not complete without the cultural and social context
within which it is developed and used. The cultural and social context of the device will be
studied within the theoretical framework of cultural technological studies and social
distinctions and its social uses as material artefacts. The study will reveal the links between
class and usage of mobile phones as technology and commodity. As Falkner describes the
interaction of the instruments and legal processes producing ‘material worlds’, the interaction
of the mobile phone with the social and legal realm exerts its materiality 1. This further helps
to discern the relationship between society and the material form of the concerned
technology. No doubt, mobile phones has its symbolic and artefactual nature and thus, the
social analysis of culture is not complete without the social study of such technological
objects. The role of the mobile phone needs to be explained in the context of the everyday life
into which it has been introduced and which it leads to.

It is important to note that class difference, age, cultural variations shape the perception of
mobile phone as a technological artefact or a commodity beyond its technical functions thus
1
. Alex Faulkner et al. “Introduction: Material Worlds: Intersections of Law, Science, Technology, and Society”,
(2012), Journal of Law and Society Vol. 39, pp. 1-19
rendering the usage of it as a socially stratified cultural practice. 2 As mobile phones caters a
variety of functionalities from taking pictures to internet and banking services, it appeals
more specifically to young people. This does not discard the fact that all adults irrespective of
age avail the advanced technology according to their respective usages. However young
people are the most expressive users of mobile phones which is commodified through
promotions. Young people of different social backgrounds, literacy and technical skills use
mobile phone as a commodified object producing not only sociality but also individuality. 3
The mobile phone has been incorporated into the everyday life of young people through the
inclusion of the device into popular culture of youth like music, festivals, online services, or
blogs that heavily influence pop culture to promote mobile phones. It is also required to study
mobile phones in connection with other commodities which complements the device or can
be used as substitutes in social or cultural research. For instance, software applications, video
games, online streaming services are very much part of the popular culture which revolve
around mobile phone. In fact, mobile phones function as hybrid device around which various
cultural activities are performed in conjunction with other technologies like messaging,
music, movies, work routines, data storage and planning, dating, advertising, and
customization of the phone itself. Mobile phone consumption needs to be discerned within
the context of consumption in general keeping in mind class differentiation and
commodification. The consumption of any technology related to mobile phone is shaped by
the promotional discourse which creates a culture of mobile phone not just according to age
and gender but also by class.

Mobile phone consumption has become essential nowadays. The necessity of owning a
mobile phone is felt in almost every adult. This is because of the reason that mobile phones
have made everyday life easier and more comfortable with the services it provides. In fact,
mobile phones have become so attached with a person that it has become a part of the person
where it stores all the private details of the individual. It is also a source of entertainment that
many youths are found to be addicted to mobile phones. Through promotions of the usages
and applications of the device, advertisements, marketization, the device has been
commodified and entered into our everyday life. Thus, the device exerts its materiality in the
society and establishes its substance in the material world. People have now become so
obsessed with mobile phones that the model of the mobile phone a person owns have become
a parameter to determine the class of the person. There is cultural differentiation on the
consumption of the mobile phones and stylization by youth corresponding to class differences
and the ways of using the technology. Besides the political and discursive relationships, the
interaction of a person with objects or technology constitutes the culture of the society in
which the person lives. Silverstone articulated that technologies such as computers, cars and
mobile phones are not merely physical material artefacts although they have symbolic
significance, but also establishes and maintains sociality. 4 There is indeed a social role of the
mobile phones as a technological tool and a material artefact for communication,
dissemination of information, undertaking public schemes, managing private details etc. It
enables coordination in daily life and availability at work beyond a traditional communicative
role. Beyond its utility and functionality, an independent culture of consumption and usage
has developed around the mobile phone. Because of its portability, the device has been
incorporated into patterns of daily life and become a central cultural technology which has

2
. Breda Luthar and Samo Kropivnik, “Class, Cultural Capital, and the Mobile Phone” (2011), Czech
Sociological Review, Vol. 47, pp. 1091
3
. Ibid.
4
. Roger Silverstone, “Domesticating the revolution: information and communication technologies and everyday
life” (1993), Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 45, p-227-233
been commodified. It should be noted that mobile phone is associated with a private
individual, not a family unlike landline telephones, or televisions or cars. Thus, the
promotional strategy cannot be compared to family associated technologies but rather
resembles to that of an iPod or the Walkman.

Daniel Miller argues that everyday objects or technologies exists both materially and
symbolically.5 He illustrated that objects are socially important due to our ignorance of their
significance. Due to our unawareness, they strongly influence our expectations, everyday
practices and shape our normative behavior in our daily life. These material objects constitute
our own self-understanding and how we perceive others. They enable or limit everyday
practices and shape our life and identity and therefore individual life cannot be constructed
outside of the material world. Mobile phones play an important part in this context where it is
perceptive of the skill, abilities, thought processes and class of the individual. By studying
culture as created by the mobile phones and lived through by each individual, we can
understand the social structure and systemic inequalities and social differences 6. Therefore,
mobile phones are cultural artefacts not just because they are part of the lived experiences of
individuals but also because they are part of the commodification and objectification which
creates social affiliations, practices, and identities. This artefactual nature of the mobile
phones is crucial for the study of its social role and modernity that the device has brought
upon the world.

However, mobile phones also tend to a number of non-material elements like self-
presentation, performative strategy, software, the role of messages in messaging culture i.e.
for teenagers, text messaging as means of communicating news, giving advice or therapy,
flirt, gossip and chat. Thus, the messaging culture has as symbolic function which influences
the community culture and shape the common narrative. The social meaning of an artefact
besides its materiality includes its surplus value above the use value of the artefact. So, the
mobile phones have both techno-function as well as socio-function which equally influences
social relations and ideologies or abstract ideas or beliefs. 7 While the mobile phones have its
physical services, they also have metaphysical services needed for social interaction,
integration and differentiation. Mobile phone users oscillate between explicit elements like
physical form, technical functionality and price and implicit elements like the perception of
how mobile phones help conception of oneself and how one is perceived by others. Thus,
consumption of mobile phones encompasses its expressive use the object and its use as a
cultural artefact which means that consumption is not just using the phones but also the pain
and pleasure for owning the artefact, gathering information on the artefact. The artefact
establishes and regulates its meaningful existence at different stages of production, promotion
and consumption. The material culture as shaped by this artefact mediate the government of
the actions of the individuals and thus in turn mediate establishment and regulation of the
power relations in the society. Material artefacts are socially and culturally significant in
terms of its symbolic meaning and their role in the organization of our senses. 8 The sociology
of the mobile phone culture and analysis of patterns of consumption will give the symbolic
meaning of the artefact. We can also investigate the subcultures within the manifold of social
layers to subvert the conventional standards and express social or personal identities, social
belongingness or distinctions which is simply an ethnographic analysis of the subcultures.
This reasserts that the role of mobile phone isn’t only the symbolic meaning of the device but
5
. Daniel Miller, “Material Culture and Mass Consumption” (1987), Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
6
. See also Ian Woodward, “Understanding Material Culture” (2007), Sage Publications.
7
. Supra note 2
8
. Supra note 2
also the social role of its materiality and how it shapes human practices. They are not just
tools but also environmental factors that change the perception of time and space that
transform our cultural imagination.9 Mobile phones as environmental factors are involved in
different ways of working our senses and the relationship between them.

An empirical or ethnographic research may be done under the framework of certain variables
and indicators like the pragmatic use of the mobile phone, environmental influence, symbolic
or cultural usage of the mobile phone, regulation of mobile technology in public space,
integration of the technology into the body as an extension of the personal self. The aesthetics
of the device like design, performance, capacities and marketing institute the product with
identities, meanings and class for instance, desirability, sociability, independence. Another
aspect of the mobile phone as a technological artefact is the changes it brought in the labor
market. A candidate with better technological skills is preferred and has become the
hegemonic quality in the market. Nowadays people often replace old mobile phones with new
models in order to keep up with the new updates brought by the advancing technology. The
technology updates also influence the behavior of the users. Other variables include the
portability and usability of the device being incorporated into daily life of the user which
tends to questions about the intensity of using the phone, being indispensable for information
and technology activities and its relationship to internet and computers. The technology can
also be observed upon the perceptions of the use of phones in public, the private occupation
of the public space, views on formal and informal regulation of usage of the device. It relates
to questions of forced eavesdropping, imposing etiquettes on users, online shopping, people
talking personal issues over the phone in public space and the degree of discomfort on others,
the level of techno-sensibility of the users. The empirical analysis will reveal social
inequalities manifested in accessing economic and other resources i.e. capital, education and
qualifications, social connectivity, network of contacts, and social prestige. It will also reveal
parent’s occupation and can be categorized according to the role of the mobile phone in the
identity of the teen. In order to analyze these variables other indicators may be applied such
as user’s age, gender, education, employment, religion, geography, musical taste, media and
content of consumption, cultural or ethnic values, political attitudes, model and technical
proficiencies of the phones they owned. However, for the purposes of the paper we shall not
delve further into an empirical and ethnographic study of the mobile phone culture.

Political Implications:

Technological tools can be used properly or improperly for good or bad purposes. However,
they are treated to be morally neutral since they have their own utility and depend upon the
user’s mentality. That being said, technologies heavily influence user’s action or inaction and
therefore shape one’s political activities. As Langdon Winner observes “technologies are not
merely aid to human activity but also powerful forces acting to reshape that activity and its
meaning.”10 The introduction of mobile phones have radically changed the dynamics of
communication processes, shopping activities, music, films and gaming, banking services,
education and even political activities. It transforms not only what people do put also what
people think about communication, shopping, movies or even politics. Thus, mere
technological tools become more problematic since they are involved in conditions of social
and moral life. Winner observes that technical things have political qualities in the sense that
9
. Manuel Castells et al., “Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective” (2007), MIT Press, p-
141-142
10
. Langdon Winner, “The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology” (1986)
The University of Chicago Press, p- 6
they embody forms of power and authority besides their materiality and their contributions to
productivity.11 Mobile phones have also been described as democratizing and liberating
forces. It has been the manifestation of a free society. Technologies are interwoven in the
dynamics of modern politics. Mobile phones with its capabilities in telecommunications,
warfare have fundamentally changed power exercise and experience of individual. The
technology being embedded in a social and economic system have its political implications.
As critically observed above the social and cultural context of mobile phones, we have seen
that mobile phones assume certain forms of authority depending upon the model, capacities
and services it provides. This is above the user’s technological skills and ability to exploit the
services and hence it is apt to say the phone, in itself, exhibits certain forms of power. This is
to say that modern societies respond to the technological imperatives and human ends are
transformed as they adapt to the developing technologies. Winner further illustrated that
artifacts contain political properties in two ways. One is in the invention, design or
arrangement of technical system and another is in inherently political technologies which
require political relationships. By politics, he meant arrangements of power and authority in
human associations and activities within those arrangements.12 The physical dimensions of
the mobile phones and the services it caters to renders the technology its political phenomena
in its own right. The everyday activities of an individual are dictated by the mobile phone he
owns starting from the alarm he wakes up to working routine till he sleeps. As the phone has
become so attached to a person that it has become an extension of the body, the political
thought and ideology are also widely influenced by the services he used on his personal
phone. From social media to messaging services, the dissemination of information is so fast
enough to influence one’s decision on any matters ranging from food or dress he likes to
political matters.

Besides the political power of the technology to determine human behavior, mobile phones
also play an important role in the political dynamics between the government and the citizens
or between nations. The comfortability and benefits of the mobile phone technology is so
immense that even government take decisions in political matters be it internet ban or
banning mobile applications. The market and economic value of the technology in the digital
world is huge that governments influence market dynamics by taking decisions related to the
technology. The governments also use the technology for their political mileage through
promotions or appealing to the voting masses. With a plethora of activities being made able
through the mobile phone technology, governments have been trying to digitalize the world
not only for online transactions but also simplifying cumbersome bureaucratic processes.
Indeed, the technological history is intertwined with political history of a nation. Mobile
phones are also quite useful for surveillance and solving criminal matters. There is an ethical
question about the privacy of the individual and surveillance morality however, the
government agencies nevertheless exploit the utilities of the technology. Moreover, mobile
phones are the harbinger of the telecom operators which play a major role in the economy. In
today’s digital world mobile phones have become indispensable in developmental politics of
a nation.

Most of the technologies have political consequences that may be intended or unintended by
the designer. The political presumptions of the designer are manifested in the design of the
technology and services it caters to. A technology might be developed to favor certain social
interests and it might happen that some people receive better than the others. Technological
artefacts are redesigned and rebuilt many times to accommodate demands and needs of the
11
. Ibid. p-19
12
. Ibid. p-22
people. Some phones are designed for their performance speed, some for aesthetics and
design, some for photography and cinematography, some for gaming, some for surveillance
and technical purposes and some for specially promoting particular products. Such different
aspects of the phone play a role in distribution of power, authority and privileges in the
community. People make structural decisions while choosing a particular model of a phone
which influences how they work, communicate, travel or consume. In this processes,
different people possess unequal degrees of power and awareness. 13 These choices depend
upon the material equipment, economic viability, social habit and one’s own commitment.
Thus, the development of a design or model of a phone and the updates are like legislative
acts or political decisions which establishes a framework for the coming generations. Above
this, the question of surveillance of users by the manufacturing company is embedded in the
device itself, which can be used by the governments. Therefore, attention must be given to
the development of such technology keeping political interests in mind like building of
highways. Mobile phones are also inherently political in nature. The very design, model or
cost dictate human behavior for instance, iPhone has established itself as the most classy,
expensive and having higher aesthetic value than other phones. Mobile phones may be
egalitarian or inegalitarian, repressive or liberating in nature. Expensive phones are
unaffordable for middle class consumers and they usually go for budget phones. The phone
one owns has a role in the politics of human relationships like a person who owns an iPhone
naturally demands respect, superiority and authority in itself. Thus, mobile phones have its
own internal politics with the person who owns it and external politics within the community.

Bruno Latour also explores how technology can be deliberately made to replace human
actions and to shape the actions of other humans. He argued that people can act at a distance
and be compelled to act through technologies and further argued that even technologies that
one is unaware of shape the decisions we make. 14 Technologies are involved in mediating
human relationships. Latour’s study of relationship between makers, technologies and users
reveal how construction and employment of technologies can achieve certain values and
political goals. He illustrated that disciplining people may be delegated to non-humans i.e.
machines. As mobile phones can shape human actions, it may be used to discipline humans
which establishes its power and authority. The designer’s political presumption also has a
part in strengthening this power. As humans are unreliable and corruptible, bureaucratic
transactions have been shifted online which are easily accessible through mobile phones.
However, this delegation to non-humans presents another dilemma where the devices can be
hacked by highly skillful hackers and use it to their own advantage. Thus, people can use the
device to discipline other peoples.

Social Construction of Mobile phones:

In this part, we will be studying the evolution of mobile phones through SCOT as developed
by Pinch and Bijker. They suggest that the developmental process of a technology is
multidirectional because of the variation and selection.15 It is also seen in the case of mobile

13
. Ibid. p-28-29
14
. Bruno Latour, ‘‘Where Are the Missing Masses? The Sociology of a Few Mundane Artifacts’’ in Wiebe E.
Bijker and John Law, eds., “Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change”, (1992)
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), pp. 225–258.
15
. Trevor J. Pinch and Wiebe E. Bijker, “The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts: or How the Sociology
of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other” (1984) Social Studies of Science, Vol.
14, No. 3, pp. 399-441
phone as the phones have evolved in different directions. At different stages of development
of mobile phones, it presented different problems and correspondingly solutions by the next
updated model. At first, the wired telephonic device was invented. The landline telephones
also undergo different changes, updates and modernization to make it more comfortable and
suit the changing times. Other developing technologies also influence the development of
mobile phones. The wired landline telephones posed the problems of mobility and portability.
With the development of radio signals and networks and portable lithium batteries, first
mobile phones were invented in 1940s to meet the needs of the people. Mobile phones began
to proliferate in the 1980s with the introduction of first-generation mobile phones which were
just mobile telephonic device and support limited abilities. Then, 2 nd generation (2G) mobile
phones were introduced in 1990s which has camera for photography and support music like
the MP3 technology. With the introduction of 3rd generation (3G) mobile phones which
works on faster network, the aesthetics and capacities of the phone slowly increase with
enhanced display, battery, speaker and camera aperture. The mobile phone technology was
revolutionized by the invention of smartphones which supports unlimited services and works
on 4G network. These developments cater to the social group which primarily uses the
technology. The size of the social group increases from earlier adults to now including the
teens. With respect to the relevant social group for a certain artefact, the study of the
developmental process brings out all the problems and the conflicts, conflicting technical
requirements by different social groups, conflicting solutions to the same problem and moral
conflicts.16 Within this scheme, various solutions to these conflicts are possible which may
not only be technological but also judicial and moral. Also, the socio-cultural and political
situation of a social group shapes its norms and values which in turn influence the meaning
given to an artefact. This developmental process results in the stabilisation of the artefact. As
the process is multidirectional, different mobile phones which cater to the different needs and
utilities of different social groups have been developed. For instance, earlier, mobile phones
do not have touch screen, then due to the demands of users and comfortability phones with
both touch screen and buttons arrived in the market and now due to inefficiency of the
buttons full touch screen mobiles are dominating the market. Hence the development of the
mobile phone does not only depend upon the whims of the designer but also user preferences
shape the developmental process. The next generation smartphones will feature artificial
intelligence as per user’s preferences. Indeed, it can be said that the development of the
mobile phone as a technological artefact is socially constructed following SCOT.

Other implications of the Mobile technology:

a) Academic

Mobile phones have many influences in different field including academia, politics,
entertainment, legal matters, constitutional and universal values. Mobile phones are quite
valuable to ethnographic research as the technology can support and enhance participant
observation. They are useful means of recording observations in a research and also
contribute to qualitative research. Technological developments have impacts on different
stages of research process from data collection to analysis.17 Mobile phones may be used to
document visual or video data for a research or interviewing research participants. Mobile

16
. Ibid.
17
. Wendy Hein et al, “Mobile phones as an extension of the participant observer’s self: Reflections on the
emergent role of an emergent technology” (2011), Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Vol.
14 No. 3, pp. 258-273
phones as an extension of the body have been a constant companion of users and has allowed
them to create short diary entries to share with researchers. Online and social media like
Facebook, Instagram or YouTube have created opportunities for studying new research
samples or populations, studying consumer communications and narratives. The device has
immensely helped in the traditional participant observation in ethnographic research.
However little research attention has been given to implications of incorporating such
technologies in research process, the impacts it has on epistemologies and methodologies.

b) Governance

There has been attempts from governments all around the world to create value using
emerging technologies. Different public agencies are trying to implement smart technologies
in public sector management of different policies and government functions. Public value
creation in digital government or e-governance has received increasing attention. The impact
of the information and communication technologies like mobile phones on public sector
management cannot be denied.18 Mobile phones have helped in the e-government systems to
increase efficiency in the e-governance services and citizens participation. Thus, mobile
phones have helped in changing the landscape of public sector management and creation of
public values by public agencies. Mobile phones have become the tools which is used by
citizens to avail their fundamental and constitutional rights. Through e-governance, the gap
between the government and citizens has been narrowed as government services are available
at the tip of the thumb. Through social media or government portals, people can voice their
opinions and influence government decisions. In fact, with smartphones, the concept of a
smart government is emerging which is a digital government trying to create value for both
government and society, being more efficient, effective, communicative and closer to
citizens. Mobile phones have played an important role in changing traditional public
administration to new public management paradigms facilitating mediation process between
public administration and citizens to solve social problems. It has also facilitated
collaboration between central and local governments to enhance co-production of public
services, co-design of experimental undertakings in cases of local energy, transportation,
housing etc. Also, the technology has facilitated the citizens to exercise their freedoms
guaranteed by the constitution and the government to enhance their governance.

c) Legal

Mobile phones have significant impacts in the legal sphere. Mobiles have been given the
capacity of being a legal artefact. The mobile devices which are substantial to the
determination of issues in a case may be admissible as evidence in a court. Recorded videos
or audios are secondary evidences which may be the only evidence to decide a case in
absence of primary evidences. They may also corroborate evidences and help in court
arguments and rulings. The technology has brought revolutionary changes in genealogy of
evidences produced in court. Despite the advantages it brought, the device may also be used
to commit perjury, commit mischief in the court with doctored and edited videos. The
demerits of the technology come with the merits and hence should be handled carefully with
professionals of expertise in the technology while being considered as an evidence in the
court. The absolute belief in the device as an evidence in the court resulting in the decision is
problematic and should be checked with experts.
18
. Ignacio Criado and Ramon Gil-Garcia, “Creating public value through smart technologies and strategies:
From digital services to artificial intelligence and beyond” (2019) International Journal of Public Sector
Management Vol. 32 No. 5, pp. 438-450
There are also ethical questions of privacy of citizens that the governments need to address
properly. This is where international organizations and nations are involved. The mobile
phone manufacturing company or applications on the mobile phone which store personal
information and data like Facebook or PayTM should handle the details ethically and
morally. As banking details are stored in the device, potential hackers might obtain the details
and loot an individual. Fraud applications or software have the potential to steal private
details. This issue has posed challenges to legally regulate and frame privacy policies. The
internet or cyberspace are potentially haphazard places specially for children. The issue of
protecting children from such hazards has led to legislative attempts all around the world to
regulate content on the internet. While regulating for the protection of children is important,
the problem is finding a balance with free speech rights. Mobile phones are not just a simple
device for voice calls and text messaging. It is an instrument facilitating interaction of
telecommunications, media and information technology. The device could be used for wrong
purposes like child pornography or circulation of nude photos which certainly poses
challenges for law specially for the protection of rights of children. Privacy concerns and
providing safe environment for children in the internet are major concerns for the law.
Governments have even taken steps to ban mobile phones in schools. As mobile phones are
different from traditional cameras, photographs can be taken without the consent of the
subject being unaware of her photograph taken and this is clearly invasion of her privacy.
There are also safety concerns against online bullying, stalking, soliciting etc. As a result,
many legislations have been updated in India like the Sexual Offences Act, 2003, Sex
Offenders Act, 1997, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 to address the
challenges arising out the new technology. The Information Technology Act, 2000 is also
updated in response to updates in the technology and the challenges it poses. As the
technology is constantly evolving, it creates certain loopholes and shortcomings in the legal
domain which the governments need to address from time to time. State legislation cannot
tackle the problem alone however effective and updated laws are essential to counter the
threat. Self-regulation within the mobile phone industry is also imperative to address the
problem.

Conclusion:

This paper examined the social and cultural context of the mobile phones and how it exerts its
materiality in the society and its implications. The analysis of mobile phones as a
technological and consumer artefact have revealed its symbolic and artefactual nature is not
detached from its sociality. Even though this paper is short of empirical study to reveal the
communicative practices and perceptions, consumer narratives, it establishes the undeniable
connection of the device and social and individual practices which is the purpose of the
paper. It also established the connection of the gadget with class distinction. The
ethnographic study done by Breda Luthar in Slovenia reveal that age play a major role in
determining how the technology is used and its implications.19 Older people use phones for its
practical aspects while young people are aesthetic and technological consumers. Younger
people are more intensive users and have incorporated it into everyday life as extension of
their bodies. The device has become an organic part of their life. The aesthetics of the mobile
including design or model, mobile cases, ringtones, wallpaper are elements which expresses
their individuality and ultimately their place in the society. It shapes the codes and
conventions of the communicative system among the youths.

19
. Supra note 2
The paper also studies the political implications of the artefact. The technology exhibits
certain forms of power and authority over the personal body and as a result it shapes social
interactions. This in turn influences political decisions and the device can also be used for
political promotions, forcing ideologies and political mileages. The paper also studies the
development of the technology corresponding to not only the presumptions of the designer
but also the demands and needs of the users. It also explores other implications of the mobile
phones on academic research, legal domain, public and universal values. Fundamentally, it is
a comprehensive study exploring different aspects of the technology. However, it
encapsulates only a tip of each aspects which opens wide areas of research and analysis. With
the advancement of science and technology, the legal domain should also keep up with the
updates. Hence, more attention must be given in inter-disciplinary research areas addressing
the law-science-technology-society relationships in order to understand a technological
innovation better.

References:

Alex Faulkner et al. “Introduction: Material Worlds: Intersections of Law, Science,

Technology, and Society”, (2012), Journal of Law and Society Vol. 39.

Abhilash Nair, “Mobile phones and the internet: Legal issues in the protection of children”
(2006), International Review of Law Computers & Technology.

Breda Luthar and Samo Kropivnik, “Class, Cultural Capital, and the Mobile Phone” (2011),
Czech Sociological Review, Vol. 47.

Bruno Latour, ‘‘Where Are the Missing Masses? The Sociology of a Few Mundane
Artifacts’’ in Wiebe E. Bijker and John Law, eds., “Shaping Technology/Building Society:
Studies in Sociotechnical Change”, (1992) (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press)

Daniel Miller, “Material Culture and Mass Consumption” (1987), Oxford: Basil Blackwell

Ian Woodward, “Understanding Material Culture” (2007), Sage Publications.

Ignacio Criado and Ramon Gil-Garcia, “Creating public value through smart technologies
and strategies: From digital services to artificial intelligence and beyond” (2019)
International Journal of Public Sector Management Vol. 32 No. 5,

Langdon Winner, “The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High
Technology” (1986) The University of Chicago Press

Manuel Castells et al., “Mobile Communication and Society: A Global Perspective” (2007),
MIT Press
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