Mobile Interface Theory

Ebook Available, Print Version Out of Stock

admin — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:03:19 +0000

The print version of Mobile Interface Theory has been out of stock for several weeks (following the announcement that it won the AoIR 2012 Book Award);

however, it is currently available as an ebook in a couple of different formats. The Kindle version of the book is available on Amazon. I also just came across my book in EPUB and PDF format on ebooks.com. Here are the links if you’re interested:

Kindle Version: http://amzn.com/B007M9CAX2
EPUB or PDF Version: http://www.ebooks.com/958056/mobile-interface-theory/farman-jason/
EPUB (under wrong title): http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Mobile-Interface-Everyday-Life/book-55_FZlLtwUmul6jAvZqcJw/page1.html?s=mdtc8w6kjEmZdlkRiG6lRg&r=1

Review by Andrew Schrock in IJOC

admin — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:41:23 +0000

There’s been another review of Mobile Interface Theory in the International Journal of Communication, written by Andrew Richard Schrock. His review looks at my book in relationship to the new work by Adriana de Souza e Silva and Jordan Frith, Mobile Interfaces in Public Spaces, as well as Adriana’s edited collection with Daniel Sutko, Digital Cityscapes. Here’s the link to the review:

http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1727/783

Schrock writes of the books:

Mobile Interface Theory and Mobile Interfaces in Public Spaces are a step forward for research on how mobile devices are used in modern society. These texts present a set of more durable concepts that describe mobile interfaces as the micro-level part of a larger system where individuals engage with webs of contextual information, contribute media to new kinds of public spaces, and gain a sense of proprioception. The authors’ heady mix of concepts and examples will have long-lasting implications for research on mediated relationships, media convergence, and marketing. [...] Although these tomes draw on quite different theoretical lineages, they similarly disrupt simplistic understandings of mobile devices. They question the assumption that devices are inherently distancing, reject simple notions of virtuality, and call for a closer consideration of connectedness.

Thank you, Andrew, for taking the time to write such an engaging and thoughtful review!

Named Book of the Year from AoIR!

admin — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:53:16 +0000

Mobile Interface Theory was just named the 2012 Book of the Year by the Association of Internet Researchers! This is an amazing honor and I’m truly humbled and excited by the award. The selection committee — Steve Jones, Sonia Livingstone, and Matthew Allen – had generous words for the book:

The committee was particularly impressed with Farman’s ability to bring into focus the centrality of place and lived time to the current and future analysis of connectivity and mediated communication. The book provided a nice combination of forward-thinking, theoretical yet empirically solid work grounded in a strong historical understanding of new media that opens up avenues for new research and new theory. “Mobile Interface Theory” also makes us look at the unfolding present and accept the changes foretold within. It has the potential to inform new scholarship, re-set directions, and remind us that, now, the Internet is not somewhere else, but right here, in our pockets, our minds, our places.

I will be traveling to the University of Salford (in Manchester, UK) this October to attend the AoIR conference. There, I’ll be presenting new research titled, “The Mobile Internet and Materiality: Tracing Flows of Locative Information.”

Now Available on Kindle with the (Mostly) Correct Title

admin — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:56:21 +0000

For a couple of months, Mobile Interface Theory has been available on the Kindle but under the wrong title. Amazon just updated the title to Mobile Interface Theory (without the subtitle). Since the subtitle is missing, the Kindle version still isn’t linked with the paper copy of the book, so I thought I’d let you all know the link in case you wanted to download the electronic version. Here’s the link:

http://amzn.com/B007M9CAX2

Seen in the Wild: ICA Mobile Preconference

admin — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:29:38 +0000

While at the ICA Mobile Communication Preconference (May 23-24 in Phoenix, AZ), I spotted Cláudia Silva with a copy of my book. I was glad that Mobile Interface Theory had a bit of a presence at the preconference, including being cited by Gerard Goggin in his talk, “From Place and Mobiles, to Locative Media.” It was an amazing preconference and I was thrilled to be a part of it. Next year will be in London and I hope to see some of you there!

Reviewed in Leonardo & IJOC

admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:39:13 +0000

The first round of book reviews has just come out! It will be my goal to publish on this blog every review of Mobile Interface Theory, including those that love it and those that trash it. The first reviews were published in Leonardo, written by Dene Grigar, Director of the Creative Media & Digital Culture Program at Washington State University, and in the International Journal of Communication, written by Dan Hassoun, a graduate student in Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota. Thank you both for taking the time to publish your reviews!

Leonardo review: http://leonardo.info/reviews/may2012/farman-grigar.php

IJOC review: http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1635/753 [PDF]

Kathi Inman Berens’ YouTube Lectures

admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:45:26 +0000

Kathi Inman Berens is teaching Mobile Interface Theory in her undergraduate course at USC, “Advanced Social Media.” For the course, she has created three YouTube lectures on a few of the key concepts in the book. She discusses topics like embodiment, spatiality, proprioception, interface, virtuality, and identity. She terms her lectures “peripatetic lectures” in which she is walking through various public spaces while capturing video of herself. I really appreciate the careful treatment she gave these topics and the innovative format. Thanks, Kathi!

Here are the links:

Seen in the Wild: Northern Portugal

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:24:57 +0000

Paul Driver, who is an illustrator and teacher currently in Northern Portugal, sent along some pictures of Mobile Interface Theory making its rounds through Portugal. Here, Paul snapped a picture of the book in a café “while trying (and failing) not to drop croissant crumbs on chapter 2.” Thanks for the pictures, Paul!

Seen in the Wild: WSU’s Digital Storytelling Class

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:29:30 +0000

Dene Grigar, who directs the Creative Media and Digital Culture Program at Washington State University-Vancouver, assigned Mobile Interface Theory for her undergraduate course “Digital Storytelling.” She sent me this picture of her students working with site-specific mobile apps and reading my book. Thanks to Dene and her students for this great picture!

Click the image for a larger resolution version.

Seen in the Wild: Vancouver, WA

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:14:23 +0000

Brett Oppegaard (@BrettOppegaard) sent over a picture of him reading Mobile Interface Theory at Fort Vancouver in Washington State. Brett, an Assistant Professor of Communication at Washington State University Vancouver, is coordinating a mobile media storytelling and history project at the Fort Vancouver site. You can check out their mobile app for the Fort on both iPhone and Android devices.

Undergraduates at WSU Vancouver are reading Mobile Interface Theory as part of a course taught by Dene Grigar and Greg Shine called “Digital Storytelling.” They will be working with the Fort Vancouver Mobile Project, exploring ways of utilizing mobile devices for site-specific storytelling.

Thanks for sending over this picture, Brett!