Age differences rendezvousing: reminders for side-stepping

摘要

This paper reports a diary study of the use of mobile telephones for rendezvousing by young adults (aged 18-30) and mature adults (aged 31-45) in the UK. A number of age differences were found. Specifically, 31-45s more frequently: (1) attributed problems rendezvousing to the overrunning of previous activities, and to the spontaneous performance of additional tasks ('side-stepping'); (2) reported that 'problem' rendezvous resulted in unnecessary sacrifices; and (3) changed plans for the rendezvous. These differences arose, because additional family commitments encouraged 31-45s to pack their daily programme of activities more tightly than 18-30s. Mobile phones might better target 31-45s, if they, for example, enhanced To Do Lists with context-sensitive reminders, in the first instance, reminders triggered by location (GSM network cellID) and logging off from PCs.