Evaluating Information Technologies Against the Criteria of Autonomous Control and the Enhancement of Self Esteem as Integral Features of Collaborative Content Creation
The Car and the Rowing Boat
When we stop to think about familiar objects, we usually draw rapid conclusions which are correct for all but exceptional purposes; we would otherwise be spending all our time asking philosophical questions rather than getting on with life. So when we see a car we assume that one person drives it while others ride in it, occasionally offering advice which might be helpful or otherwise. Likewise when we see a rowing boat with bench space for eight people and a platform for a Cox we assume that the boat is designed to be rowed collaboratively. Two may drive a car with one at the wheel and the other operating the gear lever; and a single person might be able to get the boat through the water; but by and large we are on relatively safe territory here. But what conclusion would we draw about the television set in your family room? Is this for solo or for multiple viewing? If it is for solo use, why is it in the main room in the house rather than in a tiny booth with a single chair? If it is for collective use, why does it only come with one remote controller? In this single object we have come upon one of the key issues relating to human beings and objects and that is to do with the power we have over objects and the discussion about who has that power.
Feminist students amongst you will already have made the leap from the discussion of who controls the remote controller to who controls the mouse. I will come back to this near the end of the lecture, I simply mention it now because it gives us a framework. There may be some objects where the usage pattern is clear but there are many more where it is not. So later on we will have to ask the question of whether information systems, as currently produced, are intended for solo or collaborative use and, depending on the answer, we will have to look at how they work and what ethical issues this raises.
In the meantime, the point to hang onto is that, recalling the television, the answer is not obvious. The context is ambiguous. If somebody has a television in her bedroom and that space is private and under her sole control, then she and other members of the household all know where they are. Not for the first time, context is what matters.