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New Media & Society
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The accidental accomplishment of Little Smart: understanding the emergence of a working-class ICT

Jack Linchuan Qiu

Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, jacklqiu{at}cuhk.edu.hk

This article analyzes one of China's most prominent working-class ICTs, Little Smart (xiaolingtong ), an inexpensive wireless technology which offers limited mobility service at the price of a landline. The case analysis examines how the technology works and diffuses, why it could emerge so rapidly amid structural transformations of China's telecom reform and the subsequent co-evolution between market dynamics and state policy at the local, national and transnational levels. Drawing from interviews and focus groups, the article discusses usage patterns and the key problems facing Little Smart. Besides the particularities of the case, the emergence of Little Smart has broader implications for understanding the relationship between working-class ICTs and the `information have-nots' in general. It shows that working-class ICTs may materialize through accidental accomplishments with little prior planning by state or corporate players. However, without appropriate policy support, the emergence may not be sustainable in the long run.

Key Words: Little Smart • local implementation • mobility • telecom policy • transnational formation • working-class ICTs

New Media & Society, Vol. 9, No. 6, 903-923 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1461444807082639
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