Mobael fon lo Solomon Aelans tudei
Mobael fon hem evri wea stat kam lo oketa biki taon osem Tokio (Ito, Okabe, and Matsuda 2006) kam kasem insaed busi lo Solomon Aelans (Hobbis 2020), hem na main ting ting blo stori ya/ essay ya. Lo oketa smol smol aelans lo saut west pat lo Pasifik, ovam 80 pasent lo populason gohet fo stap osem mainli oketa man wea stap lo hom wea fedim oketa pik pik and oketa nara animol for kakaim nomoa an oketa fisa man. Nomata globol prevalense blo oketa, hao oketa usim mobael fon hem no sem sem en “samfala kalsa save mekem go go garem oketa diferent patens lo hao fo usim” (Tenhunen 2018, 5). Lo oketa diferent peles mobael fon hem barava mix wetem oketa materal kalsa en oketa tekeniki, skils, an oketa sistims blo verbol an ino-verbal sasave, wetem tu save lo how fo tekem, usim, hao fo kipim gud fo hem no nogud kwik taem en hao fo torowem o putim awei fo no usim. Kombinason lo globol ubiquity en oketa didiferent wais o praktises hem minim dat use blo mobael fon hem barava mekem hem nid tumas lo in-depth ethnographic stadi.
Mobael fons hem sentrol pat blo sosiotekenikol sistims en wanfala taep nomoa lo oketa barava dense peles fo sosiokalsarol inkwaeri. Hem kam osem tufala “composisons o assemblages belong oketa sosol kakam tugeda en oketa miining lo saed blo kalsa” (Hobbis 2020, 217) en supacomposisonol objects (Hobbis 2020, 217), wea lo lalast level sosol and relationsips lo saed lo kalsa en miinings blo hem hem barava lo teknologikol levol noma na, fo exsampol, insaed lo fon buka oketa kontak infomason hemi stastap moa osem binary code lo oketa SIM kads. Lalane abaotm mobael fon osem supercompositional objects hemi minim dat examinim na integration blo disfala artefacts lo laef blo oketa pipol mas barava lo everi side en winim moa hao nomol stori abaotim. Hem minim osem try fo avoidim, traem mas, eni narafala tinting abaotm mobael fons en oketa waka blo hem osem “[wat hemi spesol abaotm, wat hem miminim, o stan fo] fo en samting diferen” (Henare, Holbraad and Wastell 2006, 3). Hemi minim tu dat avoidim eni narafala tingting abaotim na disfala stori blo eni kain waka blo hem osem fo kol o texts, wetem tu en narafala tingting abaotim na moralities blo oketa waka blo hem ya blo oketa devices ya seleva.
Beis lo oketa longitudinal, coupled ethnographic research lo digitol teknologies en infrastraksas lo Solomon Aelans (Hobbis 2020; Hobbis and Hobbis 2020), Geoffrey en Stephanie wakem niu wei fo entri points wea combinim na stadi blo ethnografi wetem barava biki save lo tekenikol systems fo genaratim niu sasave lo hao fo usim, exsensim en oketa mining blo moabael fons. mifala “go insaed” wanfala mobael fon wetem oketa respective oparata blo oketa, den mifala waka wetem oketa man wea save usim mobael fons folom everi part blo fon ya wetem tu oketa nara fon wea oketa bin usim kam befoa. Disfala wei ya hem som aot hao na oketa go go tekem or peim mobael fons, hao oketa kipim gud fo no nogut kwik taem, en hao oketa torowe, en oketa intares blo oketa lo hardwea blo fon ya, oketa basik waka blo hem osem toss, SIM, MicroSD kads en ups. From disfala prosess ya, mifala kam up wetem wanfa aedia lo hao sosol netwoks en oketa midia intares wea save sesensi fo tekem kam tugeda wanfa exsaminason lo oketa materiol lo saed lo kalsa an oketa tekeniki fo som kam na hao mobael fons hem barava man samting lo dei tu dei laef, fo exsampol osem oketa haos gele fo oketa pikinini (Hobbis 2020) o osem hao ba iumi lukim lo oketa ya, osem wetem oketa narawan, osem wanafala wei fo save stostori en jejekem oketa famali en fo no boaring nomoa en osem wanfala tul fo sukulu. [i]
Case Study: Wanfala Transformational Journey
Nem blong me Sharon Inone. Mi distaem 30 iyas ol me garem tufala pikinini en home blo me barava out kam lo wanfala vilij nem blong hem Napir lo Santa Cruz aelan lo Temotu Provins, lo Solomon Aelans. Me biki up kam lo hom en hem barava had laef tumas: bifo me go go aot wakabaot fo 5 km fo go sukulu, ba me go karem wata fo waswas en kuki fastaem lo barava eli mone, ating samwea 5 kiloko lo oketa deis fo sukulu. Taem mi pikinini ya me bara no sasave wat na Mobael fons. Mi no garem eni fon, fultaem me sukulu lo praemari iyas blo me (2000 to 2005) en no even save lukim hao tumas na hemi impotan. Nomata osem, gogo, hemi diferen moa taem me folom sukulu den kam aot from vilij kam moa lo main taon Honiara, den go aot moa lo oketa nara didiferen kaontris. Mi save hem ya na roti blo mi fo no onli helpem me kam up ontop bat tu fo helepem na oketa pipol blo me wea stap lo hom.
Smartphones are everywhere from the urban jungles of Tokyo (Ito, Okabe and Matsuda 2006) to the jungles of Solomon Islands (Hobbis 2020), the focus of this essay. In this set of small islands in the southwestern Pacific, over 80 percent of the population continue to live as largely rural subsistence horticulturalists and fisherfolk. Despite their global prevalence, use of smartphones varies and “particular cultures can foster different patterns of use” (Tenhunen 2018, 5). In different places smartphones are distinctly entangled with material cultures and techniques, skills, and systems of verbal and non-verbal knowledge, including knowledge on how to obtain, use, maintain and discard them. The combination of global ubiquity and differentiated practices means smartphone use necessitates in-depth ethnographic study.
Smartphones are centrally part of sociotechnical systems and particularly dense sites for sociocultural inquiry. They are both “compositions or assemblages of social relationships and cultural meanings” (Hobbis 2020, 217) and supercompositional objects (Hobbis 2020, 217), which condense social and cultural relationships and meanings at the purely technological level, for example, in the phone book contact information stored as binary code on SIM cards. Studying smartphones as supercompositional objects means examining the integration of these artefacts in people’s lives holistically and beyond linear narratives. It means avoiding, as much as possible, any assumptions about smartphones and their functions as “[signifying, representing, or standing] for something else” (Henare, Holbraad and Wastell 2006, 3). It also means avoiding any assumptions about the popularity of any particular function such as calls or texts, including assumptions about the moralities of those functions or of the devices themselves.
Based on their longitudinal, coupled ethnographic research on digital technologies and infrastructures in Solomon Islands (Hobbis 2020; Hobbis and Hobbis 2020), Geoffrey and Stephanie developed new methodological entry points that combine the study of ethnography with deep knowledge of technical systems to generate new understandings on the use, exchange and meanings of smartphones. We “got into” a smartphone with their respective operator, and we worked with mobile phone users through all aspects of the phone as well as previous phones that they used. This process revealed how smartphones came to be acquired, maintained, and discarded, and engaged with phone hardware, basic functions such as flashlights, SIM, MicroSD cards and apps. From this process, we theorise how social networks and changing media interests bring together an examination of material cultures and techniques to uncover how smartphones are embedded in the fabric of everyday life, for example, as babysitters for children (Hobbis 2020) or as we see in the following, among others, as means to keep in touch with family and escape boredom, and as educational tools.[i]
Case Study: A Transformational Journey
My name is Sharon Inone. I am a 30-year-old mother of two from a remote village called Napir in Santa Cruz Island of Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. I grew up in a rural area, and it was tough: before heading off to take the 5km walk to school, I would fetch water to wash and cook very early, around 5 am every weekday. Mobile phones were not part of my childhood memories. I did not own a phone throughout my primary education years (2000 to 2005) and barely saw its need. However, that changed as my education journey took me out of the village to the capital city Honiara, and to different countries. I knew this was my path to not only empower myself but to be an agent of change for my rural people.
Lo 2007, me kam lo Honiara fo sukulu blo me lo sekondri. Mami en dadi blo me presentim me wanfala Motorola C200 mobael fon, so mi na barava fes wan fo garem lo ful famali blo mi. Hem barava besti present lo wol ya na. Taem me garem me save kolem en textim oketa frens blo me wea stap lo Honiara, den me kolem ankol blo mi fo pasem toktok go lo mami en dadi blo mi becos hem noma garem fon. Mi bara no bisi lo kamera blo fon ya, batari laef blo hem, memori storage, en oketa nara waka blo hem. Den nomoa me barava sore tumas fo faendim aot dat fon ba no save on baek na.
Mi go jenjim nogut Motorola ya den go tekem moa wanfala Nokia 5210 modol. Taem ya staka pipol laekem becos hem strong en save stay long taem, en nomata wata kasem ba hem no save nogut nomoa, en tu, keising blo hem isi fo jenjim. Nomata osem, tru stori blo wae mi peim fon ya hemi becos me bara intares nomoa fo pleim na “seneke” geim wea staka man lo taem lalaekem, wea hem stap finis insaed fon taem u peim kam. Barava guti tumas fo taem man boring. Taem ya osem fo me laekem or nidim oketa nara ups hem no tumas yeti. Sapos me save kol, text en plei seneke gaim ya lo fon ya, ma hem seti naya. Taem ya osem hem lelebet diferen. Mi distaem bara no laekem oketa gaim, mi no save garem enaf taem.
Den, lo 2012, mi mufu kam moa lo Papua Niu Gini fo me duim moa andagrajuate stadies blo mi. Mi lelebet mufu up moa, go ownim moa wanfala fansi Nokia 5800 ExpressMusik Modol. Disfala modol ya na mekem me stasat fo intares fo garem oketa stastael fon wea guti go moa, mi lalaekem moa oketa kain wea iu jargim lelebet taem nomoa ma batri blo hem full na, en kain fon wea save tekem guti piksa, en save seivim oketa leksa waka blo me lo sukulu.
So, stat lo 2016 go kasem 2019, Mi usim wanfa OPPO A51 becos me barava nidim for tektek foto lo hem, en oketa piksa ya me laekem mas fo hem klia guti. Mi laekem tekem na oketa foto lo spesol o impoten taem, fo tekem guti piksa lo oketa peles me kakasim fo me save som mami en dadi blo mi taem me go baek lo hom blo mi. Mi tek piksa lo oketa bara naesbola lanskapes, oketa kastom peles en oketa bikifala miting wea mi ba laek fo stori abaot lo fusa. Nomata disfala fon hem waka guti nomoa, batari blong hem na hem noguti. Hem na, mi jas peim moa wanfala Samsung A71.
In 2007, I left for Honiara for my upper secondary education. My parents gifted me a Motorola C200 mobile phone, making me the first in my family to have one. It was the best gift in the world. I could now call and text my friends in Honiara, and I contacted my parents by relaying messages through my uncle, who had a phone. I paid no attention to the phone’s camera, battery life, memory storage, and other functions. Unfortunately, only a few months later, the phone stopped rebooting.
In 2008, I replaced the defunct Motorola with a Nokia 5210 model. It was known for its durability and splash-proof interchangeable casing. However, I want to emphasize that the main factor for purchasing this phone model was my interest in playing the most popular “snake” game that was preinstalled on the phone. Great for boredom. My needs for other phone apps were still low. As long as I can do calls, texts, and play the snake game, I was content. These were different times. I now hate games, not enough time.
Then, in 2012, I moved to Papua New Guinea to do my undergraduate studies. I upgraded to the fancy Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic Model. This model was the beginning of my quest to own better phones, ones that need less charging, that take good pictures, and that can store lecture notes.
From 2016 to 2019, I used an OPPO A51 mainly because of my need for photography and the phone’s ability to capture excellent pictures. I want to capture the special moments and places that I visited so I would be able to show my parents when I go home. I take pictures of beautiful landscapes, cultural sites, and memorable conferences. Though this phone is still operating, the battery life is compromised. Hence, I recently bought a Samsung A71.
Mi distaem stei lo Ireland fo duim na Mastas blong me lo claemet sieng, agriculsa en fud sekiuriti. Bat becos lo biki siki coronavaeras ya, oketa stadies blo mi lo disfala Nasinol Universiti lo Ireland, Galwei (NUIG) ya hem onlaen noma na. So, mi mas luluk aot moa fo eni guti fon wea bae save helepem mi lo kain osem moa en lo ples me stay lo hem, geografi, en taem hem barava impoten tumasi. Oketa barava topu apps me save iuiusim lo Samsung A71 blo mi ya hem oketa ya Balakbodi, Fesibuka, WatsApp, Mesenja, joom, Kindol, Email, Calenda, Kiloko, Diksonari, Notpad, Googool Maps, YouTube, VLC, bank Apps, en Plei Stoa. Mi garem ovam 500 numba blo oketa pipol lo fon buka blo mi. Hem barava wanfala diferen taep stori moa ya lo laef blo mi wea fes taem me no nidim eni mobael fon go kasem taem wea mi bara no save waka if mi no garem n e fon na.
Oketa Insight en oketa Issues
Experens blo Sharon hem osem talem aot oketa diferenses lo hao impoten na disfala digitol teknologies oketa media fo oketa diasporas (e.g., Howard 2019), en blong (digitol) fotografi osem wanfala wei fo identiti formason (e.g., Deger 2016). Hemi joen wetem tu oketa debates lo hao oketa yangfala, osem espesili, hao oketa handolem sosol frenfren lo disfala taem wea everything hem go digitol (e.g., see Kraemer 2017), en oketa hints tu lo waka blo oketa man wea gigim kam telekomunikeison, becos oketa stori guti kam en mekem oketa mobael fon availabol samfala fon winim go moa oketa narawan (Horst 2018). Osem barava no miss na, bata, Stori blo Sharon hem som guti kam dat impotens blo oketa mobael fon fo luk aftam guti en fo save stori wetem famali blo hem taem oketa no stei kosap (e.g., Hobbis 2020). Nomata osem, no eni wan lo oketa agiumens blo wanfala samting seleva ba hem osem hem barava impoten tumas fob a hemi som kam baik complexsity en dept blong engagement blo Sharon wetem oketa mobael fon lo dei tudei laef blo hem. Hem na wai mifala conten dat hem barava impoten tumas fo stadim oketa mobael fon osem supacomposisnol objects, lo everi saed osem pat blong sosiotekenikol sistims.
Lo disfala stadi from befoa kam kasem tudei abaotim teknologi ya, hemi garem tufala taep lo composisonol objects. Garem oketa simpol wans, okta objects oketa joenim nomoa from pats, kain osem hama stiki blo hem wetem heti blo hem. Den, garem moa oketa had wan moa wea wanfala object oketa givim iu, but becos hem wanfala taep weak am from story blo befoa, hemi assembolim en re-assembolom moa sosol relasonsips. Melanesia hemi garem staka stori wea staka pipol sasave from befoa kam, stat kam from yams lo oketa Abelam (Coupaye 2013), go kasem oketa fenisi lo oketa Baruya (Lemonnier 2012), gogo moa kasem oketa kanu blo aelan man lo (Damon 2017) en, ating, osem na stori wea staka man save abaotim ya, disfala stori abaot, na exsensi blo sela blo kula ya fo oketa man save wearem fo luk naes ya (Malinowski 1978 [1922]). Wan wan lo oketa materiol kastom ya hem stan aot osem exsampol fo ability blo hem fo mekem sosol interactions lo wea and taem hemi save iusim. Nomata osem, everi nara ples, oketa yams, fenisi, oketa kanus en oketa selas babae no save mekem guti oketa kain sosol esi wei. Oketa tu save kasem ples wea no eni sosol jarge.
I am now residing in Ireland to do my Master’s in food security. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, my studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) are online. Therefore, choosing the right phone that meets the need of the environment, geography, and time is vital. The top apps I access on my Samsung A71 include Blackboard, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, Kindle, Email, Calendar, Clock, Dictionary, Notepad, Google Maps, YouTube, VLC, bank apps, and Play Store. I have 500 plus contacts on my phonebook. It was quite a transformational journey from a life that does not need a mobile to the one that cannot function without it.
Insights and Issues
Sharon’s experience speaks to debates on the significance of digital technologies and media for diasporas (e.g., Howard 2019), and of (digital) photography as a means for identity formation (e.g., Deger 2016). It also links to debates on how youth, in particular, juggle their social relationships in the digital age (e.g., see Kraemer 2017), and even hints at the role of telecommunication providers, as they promote and make available some phones over others (Horst 2018). Most certainly, however, Sharon’s account highlights the significance of mobile phones for maintaining and strengthening family relations (e.g., Hobbis 2020). However, none of these debates individually would be sufficient to truly reflect the complexity and depth of Sharon’s engagements with mobile phones in her everyday life. This is why we contend that it is so crucial to study mobile phones as supercompositional objects, holistically and as part of sociotechnical systems.
In the anthropology of technology there are two types of compositional objects. There are simple ones, objects assembled out of parts, such as a hammer with its shaft and head. Then, there are complex ones wherein a given object, due to the particularity of cultural history, assembles and re-assembles social relationships. Melanesia has many famous cases of the latter, from yams amongst the Abelam (Coupaye 2013), to fences amongst the Baruya (Lemonnier 2012), to the canoes of the Trobriand Islanders (Damon 2017) and, perhaps most famously, the celebrated exchange of Kula shell ornaments (Malinowski 1978 [1922]). Each of these material cultures stand out as exemplary for their ability to facilitate social interactions in the given contexts of their use. However, elsewhere, yams, fences, canoes and shells may not hold such social possibilities. They may even lack any social charge.
Oketa mobael fon oketa didifren. Oketa representim na wanfala taep lo composisonol artifact, wanfala supacomposisonol object, kain samting wea assembolim en reassembolim sosol kakam tugeda lo wanfala teknologikol lefol, nomata hemi blo wea, blo wat taem, fo wat en blo hu (Hobbis 2020). Diswan hemi mekem oketa barava difren en guti tumasi, wea hemi movim raon oketa kain kwesten folom kastom blo kakam tugeda wea oketa assembolim sosol relasons go kasem wanfaka kain wea iumi no save hao oketa save duim, diswan hemi barava wankain nomoa lo oketa difren ples. Lo Solomon Aelans, osem mifala suspektim hem bara semsem stori osem eni wea lo Melanasia, disfala ansa blo hao hemi coverem wetem impotens blo mobael fons for oketa kin relasons.
Lo fest taem hao luluk lo stori blo Sharon wetem mobael fon hem osem semsem for eni man wea hem from Melanesian en save usim fon. Fo exsampol, oketa kontak list blo Sharon hem bara staka winim moa blong oketa we oketa man wea nem blo oketa Hobbies findim lo insaed bus o eria lo Malaita, wea staka lo oketa garem ating 200fala entri nomoa. Staka lo oketa pipol wea usim mobael fon lo insaed bus o saed sea lo Malaita provins bara no kolosap na lo mobael o lo or bara no even kolsap go lo gegrafik tems. Nomata osem, Sharon stori blo hem osem tu oketa narafala man wea save usim fon lo eni nara ples lo Melanisia. Osem staka pipol lo Solomon Aelans, hem barava feandim had tumas fo kipim mobael blo hem still waka. Wetem everi niu fon en hao hem usim wetem experens blo hem, hem kakam up guti. Fest taem ba hem save pleim seneke geim lo fon fo no boaring, datfala nid hem nomoa na lo Sharon taem hem kamup bisi tumasi. Distaem, hem usim fon blo hem fo sukulu, go kasem oketa narafala ples fo lane lo digitol platfoms. Nomata osem, wanfala samting wea hem stap semsem na, nomata hem jenisim fon blo hem na fo hem save toktok wetem famali blo hem. Osem fest taem wea usim nomoa fo kolem en textim famali blo hem, Hem distaem barava depen lo oketa foto fo searim na experens blo hem wetem Oketa famali en pipol wea hem lavem nomata hem stei kam farawe.
Oketa no semsem en semsem samting lo stori abaotim mobael fons ya hemi mekem staka kwesten kakam ap moa, wea som aot staka laya blo hao pipol save kam tugeda blo mobael fons. Oketa konektim oketa famali everi wea lo Solomon Aelan bat lo oketa didifren taems, en oketa didifren peles, en oketa fo oketa diferen samting osem sukulu go kasem samting fo man no boaring. Oketa didferen taep lo mobael fon lo Solomon Aelans hem som hao diferen na ekonomik conditions osem tu oketa stael lo langus blo wanwan man folom oketa kastom stori blo befoa kam hem mekem oketa wei fo pipol save adoptim mobael fon folom hao oketa stei en hao fo usim lo dei tudei. Osem hao mifala som kam, oketa mobael fon bara kamap biki tumasi lo saet blo dei tudei laef, en disfala entanglement ya hem mekem wanfa impoten kwesten fo kamap abaotim na oketa mobael fon ya, wat hem meanim fo oketa biki jenisi lo saet lo sosaeti, kalsa en lo ekonomik blo kaontri lo oketa yeas wea kakam.
Smartphones are different. They represent a third type of compositional artifact, a supercompositional object, something that assembles and reassembles social relationships at a technological level, regardless of context (Hobbis 2020). This makes them incredibly fascinating, shifting sociocultural inquiries from that they assemble social relations to an unquestionable emphasise on how they do it, uniquely in any given place. In Solomon Islands, as we suspect is the case elsewhere in Melanesia, the answer to the how is dominated by smartphone’s significance for kin relations.
At first sight, Sharon’s history with mobile phones seems atypical for a Melanesian user. For example, Sharon’s contact list is extensive compared to those the Hobbises found in rural Malaita, which at the most had approximately 200 entries. The vast majority of mobile phone users in rural Malaita province are nowhere near as mobile neither in geographic nor social terms. Still, Sharon also shares a lot in common with other Melanesian users. Like many in Solomon Islands, she has struggled to keep her smartphones alive. With each new device her usages and experiences have grown. She used it to stave off boredom by playing the snake game, a need that disappeared for Sharon once her life simply got too busy. Now, she uses her phone for her education, to access various digital learning platforms. However, there has been one constant in her smartphone use: the family. While she first largely used phones to call and text her family, she now relies strongly on photographs to share her experiences with her loved ones across vast distances.
These differences and commonalities raise many questions, revealing the multi-layered socialities of smartphones. They connect families throughout Solomon Islands but at different times, and different places they also serve a variety of goals from education to entertainment. The diversity of mobile phones in Solomon Islands show how differing economic conditions as well as different personal and linguistic cultural histories shape the ways in which mobile phones are adopted and adapted. As we have shown, mobile phones are increasingly entangled with every aspect of day-to-day life, and this entanglement raises crucial questions about what mobile phones will mean for broader societal, cultural and economic transformations in the years to come.
[i] The Hobbises have largely used this protocol to develop a better understanding of emerging digital societies in Malaita Province, Solomon Islands. They have been especially interested in the experiences of rural Malaitans who spend most of their time as horticulturalists or fisherfolk in their rural ancestral homes. For this article, they had a chance to discuss the protocol with a young, emerging Solomon Islander scholar from Temotu Province, Sharon Inone. Sharon self-administered the protocol in an auto-ethnographic way, and the three scholars analyzed the results together. The case study is written in Sharon’s words.
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Featured Image
Thank you tumas lo ota mobile phones, now me save toktok lo ota cousins lo farawe Santa Cruz Island lo Temotu province taem me stay away lo wanfa dial lo phone nomo. Hem samting me no privilege for garem before, 2018.
Thanks to mobile phones, talking to my cousins in the remote Santa Cruz Island in Temotu province while away is just one dial away. A privilege I never had before, 2018.
Acknowledgements
Thank you kindly to Ruth Amos for collaborating with Sharon in translating this article to Solomon Islands Pijin.
Tenk iu tumas lo Ruth Amos lo waka tugeda blo hem wetem Sharon for transletim disfala atikol go lo tok pidgin.
Disclaimer: The non-English content in this blog is a translated version of the English content provided either by the authors of the article or by the translators assigned by respective authors. Issues journal shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies or errors, both direct and indirect, in the translation. If any questions arise concerning the accuracy of the information presented by the translated version, please refer to the English content of the same.
