The emergence and convergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are fundamentally transforming the use of technology, and in particular concerning the issues of mobility. The current debates on mobility, however, almost exclusively consist of functionalist analyses of how particular mobile technologies can alleviate geographical barriers for human activity. This paper reconsiders, from a theoretical perspective, the concept of mobility. We argue that mobility should not exclusively be linked to human corporeal travel. The concept also relates more broadly to the interaction people perform. In order to appreciate the relationship between mobility and human interaction, three interrelated dimensions are discussed — spatial, temporal, and contextual aspects of mobility. In order to characterize the social topology of ICT supported mobilized interaction, we suggest and discuss the adoption of a fluid metaphor. Based on these discussions, a case of a new mobile technology system introduced in a Japanese distribution service firm is discussed. 1.

the concept of group interaction through

2003 I dedicate this thesis to my son, Shuntaro, who came into this world on December

The rapid diffusion of mobile Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as laptops, mobile phones and to some extent Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) has along with the uptake of email, instant messaging and other networking services (Sørensen et al., 2002; Mathiassen and Sørensen, 2003) rapidly fueled the mobilisation of interaction (Kakihara and Sørensen, 2001). Since technological innovations easily serve the purpose as focal points for ICT research, the wide-spread diffusion of “mobile” technologies has subsequently led to the emergence of research addressing sociotechnical aspects of the use of these technologies. This research has characterized the technology use as ubiquitous computing (Weiser, 1991), nomadic pervasive computing (Lyytinen and Yoo, 2002), or mobile informatics (Dahlbom and Ljungberg, 1998). Lyytinen & Yoo (2002) characterize these as applications using common infrastructures based the combination of mass scale diffusion, mobility and technological convergence. Intuitively, it seems quite straightforward for us to attempt making sense of the rapid technological developments we observe and place the technical characteristics of the emerging phenomena at the center and make it the most important. Hence, we can

All authors have contributed equally to this paper and are listed in alphabetical order only.

The paper systematically explores the social dimension of external interruptions of human activities. Interruptions and interruption handling are key issues in human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) research. However, existing research has almost exclusively dealt with effects of interruptions on individual tasks. In this paper we call for expanding the scope of analysis by including the effect of interruptions on the social context. We identify four facets of the social “ripple effect ” of interruptions: location, communication, collaboration, and interpersonal relation. We discuss the advantages of extending the notion of interruptions and its implications for future research. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.3 [Information Presentation and Interfaces]: Group and Organization Interfaces – collaborative computing, computersupported

The emergence and convergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming fundamental issues of mobility. However, current debates on mobility almost exclusively focus on how ICTs can alleviate geographical barriers for human activities. This paper reconsiders, from a theoretical perspective, the concept of mobility. We argue that mobility should not exclusively be linked to human corporeal travel. The concept also relates to the interaction people perform. In order to appreciate the topological nature of human interaction, three interrelated dimensions of mobility are discussed: spatial, temporal, and contextual. A fluid metaphor is suggested as a means of capturing the topology of mobile interaction. Based on these sociological discussions, the concept of Ba is forwarded as a way of situating mobile interaction in organisational contexts.