What is “Particular Time, Particular Place” Work

Just a couple of years ago several mobile phone operators and others (e.g., Helal, 1999; Galambos, 2002; Ilderem, 2005) pushed forward “anytime, anywhere” as a goal or vision for future mobile services and mobile IT-use. In this article we set out to explore if “anytime, anywhere” mobility is in fact a paradox. Kleinrock (1996, 1998) claims advanced wireless technologies, the Internet, global positioning systems, portable and distributed computing, and so forth, will realize the vision of “anytime, anywhere.” We can today see the first signs of this vision. For example, telework is now possible, remote organizations can be engaged in close cooperation, and people can communicate, collaborate, share digital media, and form communities on the Internet. The world has become a global village, some claim (Preece, 1994, Castells, 1996), where you can interact with anybody independent of time and space. The vision of “anytime, anywhere” describes a situation where people can do tasks wherever they want and without any consideration of time. Related to the vision is the 2x2 matrix often used in the field of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) to denote different kinds of computer supported collaboration (e.g., Johansen, 1988; Baecker et al., 1993). This model has the dimensions of time and place, where each can be the same or different. The model is shown in Figure 1.