The Domestication of New Technologies as a Set of Trials

Abstract

This article examines the domestication of technologies by following different phases of adoption. These phases are studied as a set of trials in which the capabilities of humans and non-humans are tested in many ways. I will begin the article by investigating the period in which interest in a piece of technology is slowly aroused. This involves the collective assessment of the 'need' for an object and, before an actual acquisition is made, consultations with friends and relatives who can act as 'warm specialists'. Next, I analyse the initial period of living with new technology: the way the technology in question needs to be fitted into pre-existing technological and human relationships. Finally, I examine the ways in which a technology that has become an integral part of everyday life slowly becomes less and less present until, at last, it seems to have been done away with. As a whole, the set of trials forms a general process of domestication whereby new user knowledge is created and the moral order of the household is negotiated recurrently. Key words adoption of new technology • biography of things • user experienceJournal of Consumer Culture

When Mobiles Go Media: Relational Affordances and Present-to-Hand Digital Devices

“…Studies have also demonstrated the ways in which technologies need to become "domesticated" before being accepted into the home. They need to be drawn into patterns of everyday life, made usable, become familiar, and so on (e.g., Bakardjieva & Smith, 2001;Lehtonen, 2003;Silverstone, Hirsch, & Morley, 1992). Alternatively, the reasons for a technology's adoption and use might be related to the nature and quality of its "affordances" (e.g., Hartson, 2003;Norman, 1988).…”

“…Social capital shapes our access to cultural capital by exposing us to networks of people who pass along capabilities, desires, and assistance. For instance, we are more likely to enjoy our devices when we circulate in groups that include "warm experts" who help us adapt to new technologies (Bakardjeva & Smith, 2001;Lehtonen, 2003).…”

Ubiquität, Interaktivität, Konvergenz und die Medienbranche

“…Cultural studies emphasize the importance of interpersonal communication during the process of appropriation (see de Certeau 1988;Brown 1994;Hepp 1998;Holly 1993). Silverstone and Haddon's domestication approach (1996) widens the concept of appropriation used in cultural studies by adapting it to the adoption of new information und communication technologies in households (see Lehtonen 2003;Oksman / Turtiainen 2004). These concepts can be seen as a counter draft to diffusion theory, playing up the importance of interpersonal negotiation of meaning (see Silverstone / Haddon 1996;Ling et al 1999, Frissen 2000.…”

Reflexivity, the Social Actor, and M-Service Domestication: Linking the Human, Technological, and Contextual

“…Interestingly, we have identified that the reflexive nature of human beings and our relations with technology are also central in the work on domestication of technology (Haddon 2001;Lehtonen 2003;Lie and Sorensen 1996;Ling 2004;Ling and Haddon 2001;Silverstone and Haddon 1996). For instance Aune (1996:91-92), sees domestication figuratively as "to handle something alien in such a way that it is adapted to your everyday life, and your everyday life is adapted to this new and hitherto alien artifact" and that this is a "two-way process in which both technology and humans are affected, and in which both technical and social features are changed."…”

“…Just as scholars of the Austrian School of Economics contend that pure profit opportunities "can not be object to systematic search" because they are unknown until discovered (Kirzner 1997, p. 71), intentions, expectations, and eventual use of wireless services can prove impossible to comprehend and predict until developed, experienced, interpreted, and somewhat incorporated into the everyday lives of users. Thus, before user engagement in the domestication^ process-the process of adopting and imbedding a product or service into everyday life (Lehtonen 2003;Lie and Sorensen 1996;Ling 2004;Ling and Haddon 2001;Silverstone and Haddon 1996)-the possibilities of understanding potential user cognizance and behavior related to technology acceptance is likely to be nebulous, porous, and amorphous.…”