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Mobile Technologies And Boundaryless Spaces: Slavish Lifestyles, Seductive Meanderings, Or Creative Empowerment?, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick
Mobile Technologies And Boundaryless Spaces: Slavish Lifestyles, Seductive Meanderings, Or Creative Empowerment?, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick
Nikhilesh Dholakia
According to the instrumental theory of technology, mobile technologies - what McLuhan's refers to as electronic prostheses - promise opportunities for greater freedom, creativity, leisure, and productivity by enhancing organic bodily functions. Correspondingly, as (Cavallaro, 2000) would argue, objects such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable physiotherapy units, laptops, and portable stereos - to name just a few - seem to impart a sense of solidity to consumers' lives. Just like prostheses, they are inserted into our everyday lives, helping our "inadequate" bodies along in fulfilling practical tasks. Phenomenologically, these kinds of mobile technologies supposedly support the subject's …