Response to the readings - The Cell Phone, Hayles and Rheingold

59 W 12th Street . September 26, 2007 . 2:49 pm .

"The real promise of connecting computers is to free people, by embedding the means to solve problems in the things around us."

Neil Gershenfeld

New technology developments tend to emerge from very specific and circumstantial needs and desires, so it's not coincidental that they would flourish more powerfully in some environments than in others. Their impact might certainly be disruptive (even violent in some cases) but the implementation of new technologies also conveys a whole new realm of liberties and reaches for entire communities and/or social networks.

The lack of a cell phone in Jamaica became a sign of "individual deficiency" almost as quickly as its own consumption spread throughout the entire island. The momentum wasn't necessarily a result of the physical mobility cell phones enhanced, but about the empowerment they gave to the established social stratifications. These stratifications were already what basically kept the country together and for many more important than food or water.

There are no roads to your home, you are without electricity, isolated, hungry... now with a cell phone you are free to call your sister and ask her for money or check up on your sick friend without having to walk for days.

One of Steve Mann's (the first online cyborg) priorities, apart from webcasting everything he sees, is to coordinate a "defense strategy against technological tyranny." I think that if we are indeed going to build intelligent cities it need be with the sole purpose of complementing the lives we already lead, the people we already are and solidifying existing infrastructures. It should be inclusive, yes, but not intrusive.

Hayles presents us in her texts the possibilities and almost archaic fears of machines "taking over the world", but luckily the turnout will not be as dramatic. Human and computer interaction should (and most definitely will) continue to escalate and I believe Rheingold defends it more accurately: what should be exalted alongside technology is the dignity of the individual and not its disappearance from the equation.

Just as love increases in value when it is shared, new mediums and technologies will do the same.

T