With This Ringtone ...

Newsweek, February, 2007 by Jessica Bennett

From text-messaged love notes to comments left on MySpace, technology has modernized courtship, to the dismay of many traditionalists.

Indian couples, however, are using new technology to solidify an age-old tradition, a new study suggests. They're helping arranged marriages flourish, using mobile phones to get to know each other before officially tying the knot--courting via cell or BlackBerry. "The mobile gives prospective matches more time, both before and after engagement," says Carolyn Wei, a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington whose study focused on Bangalore, a largely migratory city with a booming tech business. "This is especially valuable for two people who do not live in the same city."

But mobile phones are not only supporting that...