Chapter 6: User Interfaces for Mobile Media 207 but because of their intimate role. For example, they act as mediators between the users and their loved ones, storing the most important digital personal information. A mobile device is also a vehicle for expressing status and personal- ity. What is interesting is that such issues are not only expressed through features and appearance of the device, but increasingly through the content within it. Those who bring the most fresh, most rare songs to a party are the most respected. Coupled with a desired device, say Apple iPod Nano at the time of writing, this contributes strongly to status among peers. This important aspect of mobile personal content is referred to as freshness. “Fresh” is not always equivalent to “new”: i.e., an older song may be fresh if it is by an independent artist not publicly known inside the community. One of the most interesting fi ndings related to both music and photos is that the users do not spend time in fi le management. As long as the content can be easily accessed, all is considered to be fi ne. It is only when content access becomes tedious or a desired piece of content cannot be located, that some management needs to be performed. In essence, the motivation for creating personal content can be categorized into three groups: 1. capturing and storing personal experiences and events; 2. expressing self-identity (fl irting, for instance); and 3. enjoying and sharing digital content. In many cases, the different uses of personal content are not exhaus- tive, but often interlinked with each other. 6.2.1 Music As discussed in Chapter 2, mobile music enjoyment has been widely available for several decades. Over time the devices have been min- iaturized, but the fundamental experience of music enjoyment has largely remained the same. However, many aspects related to music management have now changed, as music is arguably the fi rst form of popular content that has gone almost exclusively digital. There are new situations for enjoying music enabled by small digital devices. Mobile players are useful while jogging, skiing, cycling, and even swimming. Some MP3 players weigh just a few grams, making them extremely portable. On the other hand, audio player functions are being incorporated into other devices, such as mobile phones and