New media in everyday life

It’s tempting to make a short manifesto of this post, but I’ll save that for later ;-). This blog is just a daily notebook for things related to our research into new media and everyday life. Have a look at our website to get a bit more information about the research. Expect here small observations of unintended use of communication technology. Like recently, when people around me in a dark train (the train manager had accidentally leaned on a switch!) started reading their papers and books with the light of their mobile phone screens. Phones don’t make very strong flashlights, but good enough to read for some 15 minutes in your book it turned out. When the first person started doing it, many followed within seconds, it spread like virus. While getting of the train I saw the train manager and pointed out to him that we had been in the dark between the airport and Amsterdam Central. “Oh, is that what the switch was for!” he said. His use was clearly unintended..