Jane Gould is the voice of DearSmartphone and today, BeMobileSmart. She got her first cellphone on Easter Sunday in 2002 but only after her middle son, then in high school, threatened to leave home. She got her first electric car, actually a plug-in hybrid, in 2014. Even before then, she was putting the car and the phone together.
Jane began her career as a journalist but went on to get a doctoral degree from the Annenberg School of Communications. Her initial research there was on distant environments, how people become susceptible to media influence when they do not have direct experience, but do have cues.
Many people first learn about new technology, like the electric vehicle indirectly, from the media. Today, just 10% of the country, 25% in California, drive an electric vehicle. Yet those who have not seen an electric vehicle or set foot in one often have strong opinions about their suitability.
Jane’s interest in new technology and mobility led her to work for AT&T, and then, to extended research in telecom networks. After getting a post-doctoral position in transportation, she was able to combine her background in telecommunication networks with modern mobility.
With academic colleagues at the London Business School and the University of California-Irvine and UCLA she has consulted, taught, and published numerous studies on electric vehicles, future mobility, teleshopping (using the phone to shop from home) and telework. When not shopping from home, she wrote a well-acclaimed book called “Aging in Suburbia” available on Amazon.
In 2015 she began teaching seniors how to use their smartphones for better mobility and access. She was also working on a campaign to reach distracted teen drivers and pedestrians who were looking down, not up. These projects made it evident that mobile phones were changing our personal lives and relationships, and not always for the better. The research morphed into a larger pursuit, perhaps a worthwhile detour, on smartphones, partial attention, and multitasking.
Jane serves on several local transportation boards. She also offers classes at The College of Marin on electric vehicle transportation and digital mindfulness. She is curious, and seeks to communicate, how our phones and mobility converge.
She is married to the same husband for over thirty years, had a beloved wire fox terrier (or two), and is mom to three grown sons. She splits her time between Marin County, Ca. and Cambridge, Mass.
Email to: jane@bemobilesmart.com
