Berkman Center Luncheon Series
Guest: Beth Kolko, Berkman Fellow
Topic: “User, Hacker, Builder, Thief: Creativity and Consumerism in a Digital Age”
Tuesday, January 29, 12:30 pm
Berkman Center Conference Room
23 Everett St., 2nd Floor, Cambridge MA
“User, Hacker, Builder, Thief: Creativity and Consumerism in a Digital Age”
The not very slow but definitely steady flow of computer technology into far corners of everyday life has changed fundamental cultural processes and affected how people work, learn, and play. It’s also provided lots of cool stuff to buy. But by some measures there has also been a somewhat fundamental failure of imagination in envisioning what hardware, software and services can look like which has resulted in users from outside targeted demographics adapting technology in unexpected and creative ways. One might argue that such examples of adaptation could serve as potentially valuable illustrations of what technology that is relevant across contexts could look like, if only users were seen as more than consumers – perhaps, also, as citizens.
This talk is about diversity of design, the cult of expertise, and why hackers are the good guys. It’s also about how people use technology in Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan, what user generated content looked like before PCs, and why EULAs fundamentally threaten innovation. Essentially, this talk lays out the argument that theories of subjectivity and axe grinders can be part of the same conversation, and that encouraging users to become hackers, builders, and thieves may be the best way to ensure creative and diverse design.
"Beth Kolko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Technical Communication at the University of Washington. She was previously a professor of English at the University of Wyoming and the University of Texas at Arlington."
Her current research further develops the idea of diversity and technology by focusing on Internet development in Central Asia. Currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the Central Asian Information and Communications Technology project (http://depts.washington.edu/caict) applies theory-based analyses of culture and technology in order to concretely investigate how technology is being used in diverse communities and how such technologies change the cultures in which they adopted. The current phase of the project includes qualitative and quantitative longitudinal studies in the five Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). See the project website for more information.
In addition to her work on ICT and development, Kolko also leads a research group on digital games. This group is currently working in two areas: (1) cross-cultural investigations of multiplayer games, and (2) research on gender and educational games. For more information, see the project website.
WEBCAST
This event will be webcast live. Webcast viewers can join the discussion through IRC text chat or in the virtual world Second Life. For information about our event webcasts and remote participation, see http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/webcast. If you miss the live chat, catch the podcast audio & video at MediaBerkman, at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mediaberkman.
