User Unfriendly: Consumer Struggles with Personal Technologies, from Clocks and Sewing Machines to Cars and Computers

Introduction: Our Marvelous and Maddening Machines

1 Introduction Our Marvelous and Maddening Machines It is hard to imagine life without machines. We awake to the buzz or serenade of alarm clocks and radios, move to the bathroom to prepare for the day, cleansing and grooming our bodies with electric toothbrushes, shavers, and hair dryers. Then it’s into the kitchen, where we manipulate more buttons, switches, knobs, levers, and controls to run our coffeemakers , microwave ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators, and other appliances, grabbing breakfast before work or school. By that time, we usually have also turned on a TV set, logged on to a computer, or used the telephone. If we work from a home office we may continue to use these devices, and others such as scanners, printers, and faxes, throughout the day. Leaving the house or apartment, we seldom do so without carrying at least a mobile device such as a cell or smartphone, if not also a laptop or tablet computer such as the Apple iPad. And wherever our destination, we usually get there in an automobile, the most expensive machine in our stable of modern gadgets. Even when we stay home to do housework or just to relax, we also interact with machines. Rarely is any household chore or yard work done these days without powering up a dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, hedge clipper, or some other technology. In recent years, technologies practically unknown a generation ago, such as snow blowers, power washers, and gas grills, have become standard in many suburban households , increasing domestic equipment inventories. When it is time for relaxation or recreational exercise, Americans young and old climb onto electric-powered stepping machines or treadmills; switch on MP3 players and stereo systems; or watch movies, sitcoms, or sports on television, often aided by a DVD player, or DVR. For increasing numbers of us, how- 2 user unfriendly ever, such more passive entertainments no longer suffice, and we turn on dedicated gaming consoles to participate in simulated sports competition , combat, or espionage. Even if we pursue old-fashioned hobbies or activities such as sewing, woodworking, or reading, we are likely to rely on the latest technologies. We recreate the look of classic hand-stitched quilts, not by emulating the techniques of our great-grandmothers but by turning to computer-guided sewing machines. If we enjoy woodworking , we may praise the values of hand craftsmanship but are also likely to deploy an arsenal of machinery to shape wood in our basement workshops . Even those of us who prefer the simple leisure activity of reading are increasingly adopting those twenty-first-century replacements for physical books, machines such as the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader Digital Book, or the iPad, to download e-books from the Internet. All these machines, from clock radios to mobile phones, electric toothbrushes to computerized sewing machines, are “personal technologies,” not simply because their use is literally personal, as with a toothbrush, or small enough to be carried or worn by an individual, like a cell phone. Rather, they are personal in a more significant way: people must go out and buy one themselves if they desire the benefits these technologies make possible, and then they must learn to operate the machine and attend to its maintenance, repair, and eventual replacement. If they want to wake up to music, power-brush their teeth, or watch baseball without leaving home; if they want the convenience a car makes possible by being able to leave for a trip at any time, they must first become technology consumers . They must shop for and then purchase a clock radio, an electric toothbrush, a television set, and an automobile. Personal technologies have always been seductive. They augment our strength and extend our capabilities; indeed, some technologies seem almost miraculous in this regard, giving us previously undreamed of potentials, such as the capacity to talk to people who are far away, to view photographs or films of events that happened long in the past, or to participate in virtual environments. Beyond their utility and convenience, technologies have also provided us with much enjoyment and entertainment . Finally, the mere ownership of some machines, such as watches and automobiles or devices that are new and dazzling, confers status and further adds to their desirability. Yet while consumers have always found personal technologies allur- Our Marvelous and Maddening Machines 3 ing, they have long been vexed and confused by such...