In this chapter we are going to explore what is meant by hold and how this relates to electronics within the consumer society. There are various definitions for this word and many of equal relevance to this topic, to select only one would simply be skimming the surface so to delve deeper and to get a better understanding I am going to dissect them to draw on the relevant points.
Hold-
1. To maintain a grasp or grip on something
3. A bond or force that attaches or restrains, or by which something is affected or dominated
4. Complete control
To help us get to grips with what is meant by “hold” I began to analyse the dictionary meanings. This idea of hold ties in with the idea of obsession and the more I started to look into the meanings I realized just how many similarities there where between the two. It quickly became apparent that “hold” could not simply be whittled down to certain words it was some what more complex and was as much about its context as its meaning. The dictionary simple tells us the definition but for me as well as this monotone text I wanted to speak to this held society and find out their takes on it. Number one “to maintain a grasp or grip on something”, is it fair to say that we are the something? By referring us as something it almost dehumanises us, it ignores our life style, our hobbies, what we did this morning, our favorite drink but this could be said of our beloved electronic devices. It seems that for many their relationship with these products as become some what unhealthy, picking up your phone every 5 minutes to check your phone as become the norm and sociably acceptable at this point it becomes apparent that hold may have a lot to do with our habits. Its not the first time this love affair with our devices as caused an argument, we are all guilty of losing all sense of judge meant when it comes to who is in control of the television or this term people “switch off” when they are watching television or listening to music. These devices are almost like another partner in many relationships causing argument. It would be unfair to simply accuse our devices of creating a rift first of all maybe these electronics are simply replacing an empty hole in our lives which if not replaced by them would be replaced by something else. The term relationship would refer a lot to loyalty but it would seem that this is short lived. It’s not hard to go a day without someone bragging about their amazing multifunctional products say a mobile phone but this loyalty fades with the release of an even better one, maybe our obsession is more with the ideology rather than the product itself. Surely this relationship is only surface deep, it clearly has a lot to do with our image and the aesthetics of the product so maybe the hold is more about the image created and living up to expectations. To test this theory I reformed my most used electronic products and took them out onto the street with their new look to gauge peoples reactions.
Revamped product number 1.- *make cardboard sleeves for them to fit into* mobile phone
2. Mp3 player
Obsession-
- Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.
- A compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion. Dictionary
The term obsession refers to images, ideas, or words that force themselves into the subject’s consciousness against their will, and which momentarily deprive them of the ability to think and sometimes even to act. The term is derived from the Latin obsidere, which means “to sit before,” “to lay siege to,” and figuratively “to control an audience.” From this is derived the noun obsidio, which means “detention,” or “captivity,” and figuratively “a pressing danger.” Psychoanalysis: Obsession
Have luxury items now become a dangerous obsession, are our electronics devices becoming an extension of our persons? Are we scared to admit the people we have become because of our devices? Once known as luxury items (quote from early days of television………………………………………..) these items were beginning to creep into our households as we became more and more dependant on them. Dependency and addiction are often associated with modern day evils such as drugs but are we simply by passing the obsession with our electronics because we don’t want to know the answer. The thought that some other force may be in control of our lives is a scary one but would this be a statement to far. For most the use of electronics in their daily life passes without a second thought. How many times have we stopped and thought actually how many electronics have I used today and how would different would my day have been without them. It’s almost as if we are losing our sense of self, our sense of reality seems to come a lot into question in this topic.
“ peoples experiences of technology are rarely limited to positive, the negative or the neutral… probably all of us could cite many examples of more complex experiences with technology” Gary Lee Downey The Machine in Me page 18
Does a social change prompt the development of technology and more specifically electronics or do our electronics provoke the change in society?
Hold-
We can even delve back into the archives and we can go back almost hundred years and we read of Lewis Mumford’s idea of technological utopia. “Modern utopias were inseparable from the rise of technology”, it can be argued then that this take on reality is nothing new and simply change of times, inspiration. Stop and ask your average twenty something girl what they would do without a mobile phone and there face fills with fear and shock almost something out of a Stephen king film. I’ve heard them go as far as to say it would be like losing a limb, extreme maybe, honest yes this again begs the question are these devices an extension of our being. It’s hard to answer this question with a definitive answer as we are all individual or like to think we are and so some make a conscious decision to reject this form of technology. There are different schools of thought on the rejection of technology we begin with the group know as the romantists…………………………………………………………….. Amish . Can we in anyway compare our modern western society to these nature based cultures. What is the difference between culture and society
