BuddySync: Thinking beyond cell phones to create a third-generation wireless application for US teenagers

Why have US teens been slower to adopt cell phones than their European and Japanese peers? We explore both larger, macro issues that structure the choices available to US youths, as well as the beliefs, values, and norms that shape their culture of interaction. While we recognize that structural and cultural factors are intertwined, we argue that the media has tended to portray cultural factors as byproducts of economic and infrastructural conditions. An example of this is the argument that US teens used to prefer pagers because cell phones were too expensive. Such arguments did not consider the value of pagers in satisfying teen desires to be connected but also limit accessibility. What we will demonstrate through this chapter is that there are deeper values that guide teen wireless use, and that these need to be uncovered if appropriate solutions are to be reached.