CRD701: History and Theory of Communication Technology

Mann, Nolan, and Wellman

First, I have to ask, what is a smart toilet? And how exactly are these used as surveillance? I had to get that off my chest because of how deeply concerned I was reading that such a thing existed!

Moving beyond the surveillance toilets…I was most intrigued by the “neo-panopticon” idea proposed by Bentham. His “system of observation” strikes a chord even today despite advancements in technology because I would argue that the observations are still as thorough and as prevalent as they were in the pre-industrialized society – we may just not know it’s happening. Although Ostrom and Wellman state that “the densely-knit connections and tight boundaries of pre-industrial ‘door-to-door’ communities fostered direct visual observation as a means of control” and were forever changed by the Industrial Revolution when the “societal scale increased beyond the ability for little groups of neighbors to eye one another” (334) I would argue that home owners associations, apartment complexes, etc. are as diligent with their observations as they were when the houses within communities were within reaching distance. On a personal note, it doesn’t take long for a member (who always remains anonymous) of our home owners association to raise concern about someone’s unapproved yard decorations or landscaping choices. We may believe we have our privacy but there is always someone watching!

The concept of sousveillance feels refreshing to me when I find websites/blogs like the one I posted on our Wiki page – HollabackNYC. It’s an obvious empowerment to know that even as I am moving through the most intensely surveyed situation (like the bomb “puffers” at the airport security lines, that I still have the power and ability to “survey” back whether it be with my phone or some other sort of wearable computing sousveillance piece.

Dourish and Bell

Although we may have already talked about the concept of space and place I thought this article made strong points regarding “when computation moves off the desktop [and] we are forced to understand something of the spaces into which it moves, and the practical and cultural logics by which those spaces are organized” (2). As I’ve mentioned often before, I can relate these sorts of concepts directly to the experiences our company has with external employees who are constantly on the move and require access to what would have only previously been available when sitting at their desks. Dourish and Bell hit the nail on the head when stating that “spaces through which we move become visible in terms of their network accessibility and, consequently, in terms of their applied electronic ‘locality’” (3). If I’m sending a consultant to an institution in the remote areas of North Dakota where they have no access to cell towers or internet during the three hour drive from the airport I have no other option but to beg them to take on the task. Those three to four hours of unaccessability are considered “black hours” on their calendars and these sorts of spaces are meant to be avoided at all costs. It is one of thousands of examples just from our firm that highlights Dourish and Bells idea that “structures of space and pervasive computing are mutually, reciprocally coupled to social and cultural practices” (5).

De Souza e Silva

In connection with the cultural concepts of space and computation from Dourish and Bell, Dr. Silva’s article addresses the concept of “hybrid spaces” defined as “mobile spaces, created by the constant movement of users who carry portable devices continuously connected to the Internet and to other users” (262); in addition to a “conceptual space created by the merging of borders between physical and digital spaces, because of the use of mobile technologies as social devices” (265). These types of spaces are so much more relevant to my daily activities over those of identity creation in virtual worlds because of just how common it now is to use mobile technologies to find restaurants, contact friends, get driving directions, buy movie tickets, etc. In fact, it’s hard to remember a time (despite how recently it was) when we didn’t have the technology that has helped to create these hybrid spaces.

I find it interesting and somewhat ironic that we may refer back to this decade as a return to the physical over the virtual when it doesn’t seem that long ago that we were “convinced” that everything was going to be in the virtual. I guess this goes to show the fluctuations we may come to expect from the advancements that technology can provide. It is evidence to me that, as Dr. Silva describes, the “changing of our experience of space means not only interacting in new ways with other people but also redefining the space in which we live” (273).

Farley

Just a brief note on the Farley article regarding the history of mobile telephony. It was incredible to learn just how long the concept of mobile phones has been in existence especially when I look back to the 80’s and early 90’s and see how archaic the technology looked as recently as then. Farley provides insight in to the struggles the technology faced in terms of advancement when he states how “self-examination was a wrenching but necessary process that for many companies would go on for years” (27). It seems as though that without the urgent drive of competition that many companies may or may not have forced themselves to push for change or address where they needed to go next strategically.