Smart touch phones are highly penetrative technologies with a multitude of uses, from entertainment to communication. One of the key ideas in social informatics (Kling 1999, Sawyer 2002, Kling et al. 2005, Humphries 2011) is that social context plays an integral role in the effect technology will have on its users. This also applies to mobile phones, where “the effects of new technologies are not direct, but negotiated through people’s construction and use of them” (Humphreys 2011). This means that the design of a mobile phone does not necessarily determine its final use. Buckland (1991) explains that this is due to the changing discourses surrounding different technologies. For example, the mobile phone was developed for communicating with one another through speech while being mobile. Due to continual development, the device is now applied to a variety of different social contexts for a multitude of purposes. 

MattMaxwellMedia 2008, ‘Connected’, Google Video, viewed 29 August 2011,<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2970832643107264832#>

This video explores a unique application of iPhone at the Abilene Christian University (ACU). A trial at the university gave the students an Apple iPhone or to help them keep track of news and information relating to their studies. This ACU ‘Connected’ program has praised by students, professors and technology critics as not only “giving students new tools”, but also “transforming the learning environment” (Grant & Killian 2011/09, para. 5) by allowing them to personalise their learning experience. Students are encouraged to log their preference of classes, chat with their peers and access learning materials through the iPhone, rather than use it for its original purpose – to make phone calls. The discourse of the iPhone has changed from a mobile phone device to an educational resource due to the social context that it was used, exemplifying the ideas of Humphries (2011) and Buckland (1991).

Showcasing the iPhone in a university context, this video example highlights an important idea in social informatics. As Kling (1999) argues, the design, development and use of information communication technologies (ICTs) depends highly on its social use. Consequently, technologies may be designed for specific purposes but their end use may differ from this aim. The video demonstrates the integral role that social context plays in the significance of technology. Kling (1999) believes that “‘social context’ of information technology development and use plays a significant role in influencing the ways people use information and technologies” (Kling 1999, para. 42). In this example, the educational context of the Apple iPhone transformed it from a wireless object into a device that is used for keeping informed and in touch.