We are not the Machine

The computer is a daunting and complex piece of technology which is very prone to seemingly unfixable errors.  This is not a message that Dell wants to send to users and like all companies gives a utopian view of their products.

This is a picture of a Dell computer, is made in the hope that people will buy their computers and is part of a website that is dedicated to selling their computers http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-mini1018/pd.  Deborah Lupton expresses this tactic when she asserted, "The overt reasons for portraying computers as humans is to reduce the anxieties of computer phobia that many people, particularly adults, experience" (p. 428).  Computers are seen by many to be scary and so computer people's humanizing of them relieves much fear.  Dell attempts to seel a brand of laptop called the New Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook by using such terms like "battery life," "the Inspiron™ Mini 10 lets you," and "perfect travel companion."  Dell boasts how "lightweight" this computer is (Dell). 

Lupton sees this sort of description as a sign of how much the borders between we humans and our computers are become blurred.  She thinks that because computers are treated almost as individuals, we are becoming a part of them and they are becoming part of us (p. 423).  Her view is exaggerated and in fact people have very little emotional connection with their computers.  This explains why people are constantly throwing out their old computers and getting newer more modern ones.  To most people, they are simply machines and nothing more. 

In chemistry, atoms are sometimes referred to as individuals so people can beome more comfortable with them and learn how they work.  This sort of simplification is preferable to attempting to explain atomic theory in all its complexity to users who know next to nothing about it.  We form emotional bonds with our computers like we form emotional bonds with our houses or cars, however our identities are hardly changed and our bonds are simply emotional.

This course helps me understand digital technology in a far deeper sense than just knowing how computers function and how to use and program them.  We as a nation must be aware of the directions technology can go and we must decide how we wish to use technology.  The way we understand technology is seen though the eyes of our culture.  I now see technology more objectively and outside the bounds of my culture.  For example I learned that Japanese people see the Internet more as a tool for accomplishing things in real life rather than something that disconnects us from real life (p. 759).  This concept was elaborated by Adriana Silva in the Cibercultural Reader.

I wish that this course was more about understanding computers rather than simply writing  and talking about them, however I absolutely cannot say that I have taken nothing away from it.

Bibliography:

Dell. Advertisement. Satisfies Even Your Most Avid Tweeter. Dell. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-mini1018/pd.

Silva, Adriana De Souza E. "From Cyber To Hybrid." The Cybercultures Reader. Ed. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.

Lupton, Deborah. "The Embodied Computer/User." The Cybercultures Reader. Ed. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.