bar, pisani, and weber - ars april 7 2008

Mobile technology appropriation in a distant mirror: baroque infiltration, creolization and cannibalism

François BarFrancis Pisani

Matthew Weber

slides: http://slideshare.net/arnic

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/


0. inspiration

1. appropriation

2. innovation model

3. research questions

4. current projects


1556


1556 1928


“Só me interessa o que não é meu. Lei do homem. Lei do antropófago”

1556 1928


1556 1928 1960s


1556 1928 1960s 2003


“la créolisation, c'est le métissage avec une valeur ajoutée qui est l'imprévisibilité”

Edouard Glissant, Introduction à une poétique du divers (1996)


photos: Bernardo Bolaños

photos: caracoleserrantesbolivia (flickr)

“Among the angels and the vines of the façade of San Lorenzo, an Indian princess appears, and all the symbols of the defeated Incan culture are given a new lease on life. The Indian half-moon disturbs the traditional serenity of the Corinthian vine. American jungle leaves and Mediterranean clover intertwine. The sirens of Ulysses play the Peruvian guitar. And the flora, the fauna, the music, and even the sun of the ancient Indian world are forcefully asserted. There shall be no European culture in the New World unless all of these, our native symbols, are admitted on an equal footing.”Carlos Fuentes (1999) The Buried Mirror - Reflections on Spain and the New World,

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yyj5PK-15UwC&pg=PA196&ots=-gPQP9bbY9&dq=%22Among+the+angels+and+the+vines%22&sig=Nb44hdRRdzEOiQPSWi_i-fPflDw

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yyj5PK-15UwC&pg=PA196&ots=-gPQP9bbY9&dq=%22Among+the+angels+and+the+vines%22&sig=Nb44hdRRdzEOiQPSWi_i-fPflDw

-1-three appropriation modes:

baroquization / creolization / cannibalism

Appropriation modes: baroquization

photos: samsooma (flickr)


photos: superlocal (flickr)

Appropriation modes: creolization

photos: Araba Sey, Ruud Elmendorp


Horse-phone:“Like earlier horse-phones, it had a cord. Wire stored on a 5-mile reel played out as a scout rode. The improved model let a rider make calls without having to first dismount and then drive a spike into the ground to complete the electrical connection. Instead, the grounding wire was attached to the horse’s skin. The mild electrical current would pass through its body to its hoofs, one of which was almost always touching the ground.” (Popular Mechanics, Sep. 1907)


photo/graphic: Mike Ousmegine


photo: Jan Chipchase photo: timonoko (flickr)


Photo: Araba Sey Photo: Jan Chipchase

Appropriation modes: cannibalism

Photo: Kathleen Diga


Photo: Araba Sey


source: http://www.vavolo.com/productdetails.asp,ProductID,2400,,.htm

http://www.vavolo.com/productdetails.asp,ProductID,2400,,.htm

-2-appropriation

within thetechnology cycle

1. roll-out

1. roll-out

2. appropriate

1. roll-out

2. appropriate

3. re-claim

m-banking

m-banking

1. roll-out

Photos: Jan Chipchase

1. roll-out

2. appropriate

sentePhotos: Jan Chipchase

m-banking

m-banking

1. roll-out

2. appropriate

3. re-claim

Photos: Jan Chipchase

sente

m-banking

1. roll-out

3. re-claim

?

1. roll-out2. appropriate

3. re-claim

three reclamation modes:

co-opt / adapt / block

three reclamation modes:

co-opt / adapt / block

echo:baroquize / creolize / cannibalize

suppliersroll-out technology

usersappropriate

suppliersre-claim

users adoptreject

users baroquizecreolizecannibalize

suppliers co-opt adapt

block

1. roll-out

2. appropriate

3. re-claim

Iterative

Cumulative

End-user driven

Structured learning

Embedded knowledge

Path-dependent

-3-research questions?

1. adopt

2. appropriate

3. re-claim

what is open?

?

1. adopt

2. appropriate

3. re-claim

what remains open?

?


usersappropriate

suppliersre-claim

users adoptreject



block


usersappropriate

suppliersre-claim

users adoptreject



block

who are the “users”?what motivates them?what resources can they draw upon?how do they go about it?can they get help from others? (“appropriation-for-hire”)

-4-research projects

Comunicaciones Móviles y Desarrollo en América Latina (CMDAL)

Econometric Model of mobile impact (18 countries)

Case studies: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, and Perú

Funding: Fundación Telefónica

Partners: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, SpainUniversidad de San Andrés, ArgentinaInstituto de Estudios Peruanos, PerúUniversidade de São Paulo, BrasilInstituto de Pesquisas e Projetos Sociais

e Tecnológicos (IPSO), Brasil

Brazil: economic experiment

motoboys160,000

young

marginal

mobile

information dependent

(CANAL*motoboy)

http://zexe.net/SAOPAULO

http://zexe.net/SAOPAULO

Brasil: mergulho na comunidade

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fbar/2351452330/in/set-72157604227638782/

Brasil: RedeJovem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOtMKOeXw_U





Los Angeles: Mobile Voices

Open-source storytelling platform for recent immigrants in Los Angeles to create and publish stories about their community, directly from cellphones

Partner:

Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA)

– Runs 6 day-labor centers in L.A.– Popular Education for empowerment– Technology literacy initiatives

Project goals• community building through storytelling• ICT access for disenfranchised people• create economic/social opportunities

Usage scenarios• mobile storytelling• annotated city• mobile labor market

Design approach• low cost• participatory design• open source, generic tool

(https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/VozMob)

Project timeline• Spring 08: prototyping• June08-May09: IDEPSCA deployment• after June09: broader diffusion

https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/VozMob

https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/VozMob

Technical Research Challenges

Privacy• reveal as little information as possible, but still collect

enough to tell stories• user-controlled disclosure• server-side policies for purging data

Low-cost• portable to low-cost java phones (e.g. motorola i855)• minimize data transfer (or cope with low bandwidth)• minimize power consumption

Generic platform• favor open, flexible design for adaptation

to various use patterns

http://abaporu.net