The smartphone: a Lacanian stain, a tech killer, and an embodiment of radical individualism

Matthew P. Aylett, Shaun Lawson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

YAFR (Yet another futile rant) presents the smartphone: an unstoppable piece of technology generated from a perfect storm of commercial, technological, social and psychological factors. We begin by misquoting Steve Jobs and by being unfairly rude about the HCI community. We then consider the smartphone's ability to kill off competing technology and to undermine collectivism. We argue that its role as a Lacanian stain, an exploitative tool, and as a means of concentrating power into the hands of the few, make it a technology that will rival the personal automobile in its effect on modern society.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages501-511
Number of pages11
ISBN (Print)9781450340823
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 May 2016

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