Technology as Articulation and Assemblage

In the reading Articulation and Assemblage, Slack and Wise challenges us to see beyond technology as merely "things", but rather contingent connection of different elements that form a unity. From that he introduces two important concepts articulation and assemblage in the context of technology. I want to challenge his argument, ask you guys why do you think it is important to view technology more than just pieces of objects? We pay and we get our products, is that not enough?

Fuchs & Cosmopolis

After completing the reading by Christian Fuchs, titled “Capitalism or Information Society?”, Fuchs questions if we live within a time of late capitalism or and informational society. There is further discussion about the connection between the capitalist class and information society and how they should not be seen as polar opposites. 

I found this reading applicable to the movie Cosmopolis. In the movie, there is a scene where Robert Pattinson’s character Eric Packer uses a highly advanced technological device to look at information within the means of his limo. Additionally, there is another scene of protest within the movie. With that said, Packer would represent the capitalist class and the protesters would represent the ones producing the information.  These two scenes demonstrate how easily information is accessed by anyone wherever they may be. In addition, the protest represents how there is a struggle for those who are not “capitalist” but living in an information society. I believe that this movie highlights the true capitalist nature of our society of how ultimately we produce information but yet do not benefit as the 1% does. This concept also connects to the concept of free labour. Another point I found interesting about the movie is the protest scene. The movie was to be taken place in 2008. It reminded me of the Occupy movement that took place. Ultimately, there is a struggle between the 1% and the rest of society. This issue still has not been resolved. Though these protests did occur, not much change followed the gap between the classes. I believe that growth of technology makes it harder to reduce the gap as information is continuously being produced yet those producing are not benefiting for doing so. I believe information is the biggest commodity in our world today and will be for a long time.

Patrice Flichy & Social Imaginaries

Within Patrice Flichy’s reading, the Internet is the main focus. In more depth,  Flichy discusses the concept of “Internet imaginaries” and the role they play with new technology within Western societies, more so North America. Overall, it can be debated that in fact our society is leaning towards technological era. I thought that this reading was very interesting because it looks at the development of Internet Imaginaries progressing in our world yet often we don’t acknowledge this change and progression. Another reading that I found connected with Flichy’s was Robin Mansell. Mansell focuses on “social imaginaries” within an Information society. After World War II, wealthy  societies grew into information societies. With the grow of information and the Internet, the world began to change. We have to ask ourselves do we develop different personalties/imaginaries based on the use of the Internet/technology?

Virtual Community

In Fred Turner's article "Where the Counterculture met the New Economy - The WELL and Virtual Community" the influences and evolution of one of the first online network forums is illustrated. When thinking about social media today and the influence that the WELL has on what we have access to today, one can assume that the WELL laid down the ground work to give people a sense of connectedness regardless of space and time. The idea of a non hierarchal organized social platform through information technology is what many companies today use to keep each other informed and constantly connected with the latest movements within a company. BMO for example uses lync so employees can communicate with each other. 

This type of forum gave companies a basis of what to build off of. As seen in the Silicon Valley documentary in class, employees used a bar to meet up and communicate the latest workings in the company  and discuss the ongoing competition and achievements each employee had endured in recent memory. Forums today can be seen as a bar or a physical meeting because it allows you to relay messages in real time. 

WhatsApp for example uses phone numbers regardless of the type of phone you have to form group chats, share links and media. Other then WhatsApp, what current social media platform do you think is most relatable to the ideals set by WELL?

Information and Commodification

Dan Schiller's reading is interesting because it is something we are all currently experiencing in some form. The idea that information can be both a resource and commodity is valuable because there are so many layers to information being commodified. When using the example of a book in lecture, Professor Herman outlined how information is both a resource and a commodity. A book is useful in terms of enhancing our knowledge, once we read and interpret the information the book becomes a resource. A book and information within becomes a commodity when the book changes hands, for instance when the author sells to publishing company.

Media is used today in various outlets to reach target audiences. Social media allows individuals today to express themselves online. Outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Spotify use one's browsing history to dictate what advertisements you will see when online. This marketing scheme allows for companies to process information, turn it into knowledge to then target their audience. These advertising companies use information as a commodity in order to further their capitalistic goals.

Another way I felt could be related to society today is an experience I had over the summer while working at a consulting firm. A job I was tasked with was research on potential partners for various projects. I would research other firms and consultants and find areas where they would be of value to our company. This process allowed for information to hold a use value but also an exchange value as upon partnership and completion of a project both firms attained value.

Assemblage & Articulation

Reading and later discussing the ideas of articulation and assemblage by Slack and Wise was interesting because it is so relatable now more than ever. The reading talks about the rise of the surveillance industry in the past decade as well as how this is connected to assemblage and articulation. When we are able to survey or observe something as an outsider, we can see how every part or articulation of a process works to form a cohesive unit which in this case is called an assemblage. With the constant development of technology and our need as a society to be innovative, there are many active parts that are necessary to move society forward. For example, highways and roads to help us travel, phones and other devices to help us communicate. In terms of assemblage, articulation, and surveillance, an example that surprisingly relates all of them is "Endless" which is R&B singer, Frank Ocean's visual album. To give a bit of a background on it- many of his fans have been waiting for him to release an album for quite some time. So, Frank Ocean uploaded a live stream on his website where fans were curious to see what he has been up to for four years. Towards the end of this live stream, Frank Ocean played music and built some type of installation as millions of people watched his live stream. This live stream was a form of surveillance in which the audience was able to see him work and build this visual album in this environment. It's interesting to apply this concept to popular culture, can you think of other ways in which assemblage & articulation can be applied?

Here is a very short link to the live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d54xZAxeU7w (the livestream was running for over 100 hours so this is just a very small snippet)

Innovation

Patrice Filichy in his reading The Internet Imaginary engagees in his reading three underlining principles on innovation. The three include The sociotechnique network approach which basically means that innovation can start anywhere and not in the mind of some brilliant person. Next is the Project Concept where the main underlining idea derives from project management, and constant compensation, and finally the idea of The boundary-object concept which basically "allows cooperation to be organized between actors with different points of view and knowledge, without overlooking their individual competencies, by adopting a common approach" (Flichy).

In class we talked about innovation in such aspects such as the early stages and history of Silicon Valley. The hub of the technological world built entirely on innovation. Looking in todays society, this idea of innovation is crucial in the information capitalistic world we live in to fuel not only our economy, but our society as well. It is because of innovative qualities such as Silicon Valley that we are exposed to the major technological breakthroughs that we as society indulge in everyday.

Below I have posted a link that take a different approach to explaining innovation, with this in mind, what are your thoughts on the innovative notions mentioned in Flichys reading and can you think of a recent innovation that has really made an impact in our information capitalistic society?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiyMkOfycOg