Initial thoughts on my choice of object in relation to the assignment

Thinking about my assignment...

1. Using case studies and media forms of your own choice, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of some of the main perspectives on the relationship of technology and culture that you have met.

To form the basis of my essay I envisage attempting to distil what is actually new about the iPhone - this will not be a case of simply listing the ‘new’ technologies but exploring the network of technological and human relationships in the current moment. I am keen to explore this essence of newness that the iPhone seems to emanate and set out confident that there is something new about this digital communication device.

I feel that a key area of study that the iPhone appears to inform is the changing relationships between the user and information. Reflecting on my initial experiences of the iPhone has made me consider my own relationship with digitally based information (importance and fragility of information and access to it) - the iPhone acts as a hub or information gateway for every digital communication form that I use on a day-to-day basis (Text, Voice Calls, Internet, IM, Social networking, Email) - it appears to be the perfect medium with which to manage my access to information (previously managed via at least two separate devices). The device changes my availability status from 'potentially obtainable' to ‘obtainable instantly’ - I can be contacted by any number of means, the iPhone offers immediacy in this respect, it offers others instant access to me. The lag between receiving and picking up an Email for example is, potentially, vastly reduced. As a user of technology in society I feel that this instantaneous access to me is a good thing, a necessary thing (technology and desire, technology as progress?) - is this symptomatic of all iPhone user or society as whole?

Another line of enquiry would be how a relationship with a device such as an iPhone is forged by encouraging the user to actively work through a series of ‘personalisation rituals’, from customising menus, backgrounds and ring tones through to setting up the aforementioned ‘information gateway’ (via a process of seemingly endless account setups and importation of existing data). Personalisation of the device seems to strengthen the bond between user and technology - time and effort (as well as personal data in the form of contact lists, Email inbox content etc) has been ‘invested’ in the device in order to make it (seemingly to its user) unique. As discussed briefly in my blog, the iPhone becomes a companion - a device that is capable of becoming an active part of a conversation/discussion/situation etc; it can instantly provide input whether this is satellite imagery, my exact location on Earth, the definition of a word etc. The iPhone can be used to instantly position a new ‘layer’ on any experience of reality at any point.

I think that the iPhone will prove to be a useful object with which to explore the dynamic between ‘social shaping of technology’ and ‘technology shaping society’. To what extent do the observations outlined above bolster elements of either one of these positions?

As an aspect of this study I am considering what a technological device can ‘say’ about its user, or users in general, and their relationship with information. What can the iPhone tell us about societies relationship to technology? It would be interesting to do some research into the Apple (Newton) MessagePad - a device sold from the mid to late 90’s that some label ‘the predecessor of the Apple iPhone’. Comparing the content and use of both devices may assist in understanding to what extent the iPhone is a new technology as well as societies changing relationship with technology and access to information over time.