The fabric of interface: Mobile media, design, and gender

where a female voice is allocated to a devise to imply a submissive, non-threatening assistive role or a male voice is given to a device when some level of authority is to be signaled. There are also other instances where things carry other biases, for example, in a case where the “normal” white westerner’s faces could be recognized but not a black face. The authors raise a number of valid questions about whose reality is assisted by sensing networks or whose interest are addressed when sensing networks communicate. The connected sensing things have also changed the property ownership model as we know it; we are no longer the sole owner of our connected things. Previously things belonged to their owners, but now things remain connected to their manufacturers and at times things override the commands and wishes of their owners by those of their manufacturers. Not only that, owned personal things, can now become spies for others (both authorized and unauthorized), divulging their owner’s location, or habits or health status. A development that highlights the issues of security and privacy yet again. The production of messages and meaning are no longer done solely by human individuals, groups, or audiences. This production is now, instead, a dispersed process that also involves networked sensors and can be done by algorithms and data; something that transforms former parameters of communication. This book highlights nicely, and in some detail, many important issues that cannot be all covered in this short review. However, when it comes to elaborating on potential societal implications or critical examination of potential problems, it falls a bit short, in my view. While the book is titled broadly “The Internet of Things,” without a narrower subtitle, it engages with the topic from a communication and media perspective. By taking this focus, the authors somehow pass on some of the pressing discussions to scholars from other fields. In my view, further discussions could have been had regardless of that focus. For example, things are said to have some agency but no intention. The argument in the related section of the book is logical and follows well to make this point. However, while a thing may not possess a conscious intention (so far), there are often intentions “imbedded” in things. This issue is deserving of a more in-depth deconstruction than offered. As is, the authors rightly, but only briefly, mention a number of the contending forces that factor in the development of technologies. The authors reject adhering to technological determinism. However, when reading their account of technological trends, I miss suggestions of potential alternative paths that human agents may purposefully negotiate, decide on, and bring about. Regardless, this book is timely and treats pressing and important issues. It identifies and highlights a number of shifts that accompany the emergence of Internet of things and raises questions that need to be addressed. It is well written, well worth reading, and forms a solid base for continued dialogue and further critical discussions.