The iPhone in Finland : Smartphone 2.0 and the evolution of the mobile phone

This thesis creates the concept of smartphone 2.0. Smartphone 2.0 describes frequent and ubiquitously connected Internetbased application use on a mobile phone. This thesis aims to start an academic discussion on the potentially widespread use of smartphone 2.0. To accomplish this, the who, what, and why of Finnish iPhone users is examined in detail. The who research question creates a profile of the iPhone user in Finland, the what research question charts the mobile application use habits of Finnish iPhone users, and the why research question focuses on smartphone 2.0 by examining the motivations behind iPhone application use in the context of ubiquitous mobile Internet connectivity. The results show that the average Finnish iPhone user is a male between the ages of 20 and 30. However, a large part of this thesis focuses on the changing demographics of iPhone and smartphone 2.0 use. As such, this thesis argues that the gender gap will close as smartphone 2.0 moves from a predominantly male niche phenomena to a mainstream gender neutral part of everyday life. Furthermore, it is likely that smartphone 2.0 use will begin to spread out across a wider range of age groups. This thesis argues that practical iPhone application use (organization, accomplishment, and information browsing) is the key motivation for use that will drive the widespread adoption of smartphone 2.0. In other words, smartphone 2.0 will become the standard mobile phone experience across most age groups when the practical aspects of ubiquitous Internet connection and mobile application use are a functional necessity. The adoption and use of smartphone 2.0 is determined by the degree to which it is viewed as an indispensible aspect of everyday life. The data for this thesis was collected through online surveys. The chosen methodology was a combination of grounded theory and a uses and gratifications approach to research. This created a flexible research environment that was conducive to focusing on the motivations for use that support smartphone 2.0. The key supporting work for this thesis was: Grounded theory research: procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria by Corbin and Strauss (1990), The uses and gratifications perspective on media effects by Rubin (2002), The iPhone and mobile access to the Internet by Ling (2009), and Adapting the mobile phone: The iPhone and its consumption by Gogin (2009)