When mobiles go media: Relational affordances and present-to-hand digital devices

Best, K. (2009) When mobiles go media: Relational affordances and present-to-hand digital devices. Canadian Journal of Communication, 34 (3).

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Abstract

This article argues that the reasons people adopt—or resist adopting—media capabilities on their mobile devices are largely concerned with their experience of control over technology. In particular, the ever-present, ready-to-hand nature of media on mobile devices plays a strong role in establishing and mediating these relationships of control. To substantiate this argument, I draw on findings from a qualitative research study undertaken of Canadian users of digital screen devices. This work is significant not only in helping us to understand why certain technologies fail to catch on, but also to shed light on our continued concerns about technology. These concerns may be voiced as worries about our needs, our pleasures, our identity or our status, but they boil down to our ability to feel in control of our technologies.