The unconscious use of technology in everyday life

Abstract

It is through the mediation of computer technology that we build our relationship with the world, by using the connections – whether wireless or not – in our everyday life. These technologies have been used without a great effort, and almost in a transparent way, in lots of our everyday tasks. They are present in the objects that we carry in our own pockets – such as the cell phone, credit cards, or public transport cards – and in products and services used by people around the planet in spite of our deep cultural and socioeconomic disparities. If on the one hand, the use of the computational and telecommunication systems became more accessible and popular, on the other hand its operation mechanisms became more invisible, complex and sophisticated. That situation is giving space to what we call “the unconscious use of technology”, characterized both by the ignorance about the technological process related to the operation of the equipments and services which we use daily, and by our lack of awareness about our intimate and visceral connection with technology. Under the lights of an absolutely unpredictable future – that will be shaped by the intense desire with which we seek forms of connection and communication increasingly fast, expressive and that have multimedia characteristics – we will expose in this article a synthesis of the contemporary scene characterized by the ubiquity and mobility of our computer systems, discuss the unconscious and everyday use of technology and point out some possible ways of researching and developing products, services and systems in the design field.

Keywords: design, digital technology, society, everyday life.