Rhythms of non-use of device ensembles

The proliferation of portable devices has transformed our everyday practices, blurring second and third places. However, almost no research exists on how the perpetual possession of devices impacts how we escape them. In this paper, we explore the notion of non-use of portable devices. Drawing from the results of a multi-step qualitative study, we provide a discussion on how non-use interplays with the dynamics of everyday life. Specifically, we discuss practices surrounding hybridities of portable devices and social circles. The layerings of portables help in de-personalizing interactions through evasions, pretence, and resistance. We argue that non-use is not a reason for failure, but is a form of use in itself.

[1]  R. Rice,et al.  Comparing internet and mobile phone usage: digital divides of usage, adoption, and dropouts , 2003 .

[2]  J. Krige.  How Users Matter: The Co-Construction of Users and Technology , 2006 .

[3]  Scott D. Mainwaring,et al.  Infrastructures and Their Discontents: Implications for Ubicomp , 2004, UbiComp.

[4]  M. Bull.  Sounding Out the City: Personal Stereos and the Management of Everyday Life , 2000 .

[5]  Allison Woodruff,et al.  Portable, But Not Mobile: A Study of Wireless Laptops in the Home , 2007, Pervasive.

[6]  K. Bruland.  Resistance to new technology: Patterns of resistance to new technologies in Scandinavia: an historical perspective , 1995 .

[7]  T. Brooks.  Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart , 1999 .

[8]  N. Oudshoorn,et al.  How Users Matter: The Co-Construction of Users and Technology (Inside Technology) , 2003 .

[9]  S. Tefft.  Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide , 2002 .

[10]  Trevor Pinch,et al.  How users matter : The co-construction of users and technologies , 2003 .

[11]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Aesthetic journeys , 2008, DIS '08.

[12]  Jeffrey T. Hancock,et al.  Deception and design: the impact of communication technology on lying behavior , 2004, CHI.

[13]  Scott D. Mainwaring,et al.  Living for the Global City: Mobile Kits, Urban Interfaces, and Ubicomp , 2005, UbiComp.

[14]  Jonna Häkkilä,et al.  A cross-cultural study of mobile music: retrieval, management and consumption , 2006, OZCHI '06.

[15]  N. Selwyn.  Apart from technology: understanding people’s non-use of information and communication technologies in everyday life , 2003 .

[16]  Kenneth J. Gergen,et al.  The challenge of absent presence , 2002 .