Has the cell phone forever changed the way people communicate? The mobile phone is used for "real time coordination while on the run, adolescents use it to manage their freedom, and teens "text to each other day and night. The mobile phone is more than a simple technical innovation or social fad, more than just an intrusion on polite society. This book, based on world-wide research involving tens of thousands of interviews and contextual observations, looks into the impact of the phone on our daily lives. The mobile phone has fundamentally affected our accessibility, safety and security, coordination of social and business activities, and use of public places. Based on research conducted in dozens of countries, this insightful and entertaining book examines the once unexpected interaction between humans and cell phones, and between humans, period. The compelling discussion and projections about the future of the telephone should give designers everywhere a more informed practice and process, and provide researchers with new ideas to last years.*Rich Ling (an American working in Norway) is a prominent researcher, interviewed in the new technology article in the November 9 issue of the New York Times Magazine. *A particularly "good read", this book will be important to the designers, information designers, social psychologists, and others who will have an impact on the development of the new third generation of mobile telephones. *Carefully and wittily written by a senior research scientist at Telenor, Norway's largest telecommunications company, and developer of the first mobile telephone system that allowed for international roaming.

The previous edition of the International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human Factors made history as the first unified source of reliable information drawn from many realms of science and technology and created specifically with ergonomics professionals in mind. It was also a winner of the Best Reference Award 2002 from the Engineering Libraries Division, American Society of Engineering Education, USA, and the Outstanding Academic Title 2002 from Choice Magazine. Not content to rest on his laurels, human factors and ergonomics expert Professor Waldemar Karwowski has overhauled his standard-setting resource, incorporating coverage of tried and true methods, fundamental principles, and major paradigm shifts in philosophy, thought, and design. Demonstrating the truly interdisciplinary nature of this field, these changes make the second edition even more comprehensive, more informative, more, in a word, encyclopedic. Keeping the format popularized by the first edition, the new edition has been completely revised and updated. Divided into 13 sections and organized alphabetically within each section, the entries provide a clear and simple outline of the topics as well as precise and practical information. The book reviews applications, tools, and innovative concepts related to ergonomic research. Technical terms are defined (where possible) within entries as well as in a glossary. Students and professionals will find this format invaluable, whether they have ergonomics, engineering, computing, or psychology backgrounds. Experts and researchers will also find it an excellent source of information on areas beyond the range of their direct interests.