Assignment 6: Christina Caiozzo

One of the biggest problems I encounter is switching the ring level from off to on depending on where I am. Sometimes in class, it rings because I forgot to switch it to vibrate. Other times, I am home, and I miss calls and texts because I forgot to put it back on ring.
Another feature that is problematic is the phantom-vibrate. I will have my phone in my backpack, or in my pocket and I will be 100% positive that I felt it vibrate, but when I check it, there’s no indication that anybody was trying to reach me.
My “smart” phone would have a built in GPS feature that would sense where I was located. I would be able to set it just once so that it always knew how I wanted it to ring depending on where I was. To resolve the phantom-vibrate, this phone would come equipped with an invisible ear piece. I could put this invisible ear-piece in my ear, and when someone is trying to reach me, a voice would say- who it was, and read the message if it was a text.
Even with an invisible, weightless earpiece that signals when your phone is being activated- there still exist social technical gaps discussed by Ackerman. Ackerman (2000) states that “human activity is highly flexible, nuanced and contextualized” (p. 180), while technical systems are “rigid and brittle- not only in any intelligent understanding, but also in their support of the social world” (p.180). To address the social-technical gaps present in my smart phone design, I would need to analyze the technology’s ability to keep track of the different roles that I play. Even though its GPS system would enable it to automatically change the loudness of my ring, those conditions are not absolute. The phone would not be able to automatically know when I’m at home, and taking a nap and would like the phone to be on silent. The phone would not be able to keep track of the fluidity with which I operate. Additionally, my invisible earpiece does not address the situation where sometimes you are waiting for a specific person to call. Sometimes I am relieved when I miss a call- it is a good excuse for not having to talk to someone. If people know that I am wearing this invisible earpiece, I will have no excuse as to why I didn’t answer their call.
To fix these social-technical gaps, the phone would have to relate to me in a more social way. The way a computer keeps track of what sites I go to, and presents information accordingly, my phone could keep track of who I usually talk to, and when I usually put my phone on silent, and it could do those things automatically- If it had a memory. If it remembered who I constantly ignored calls from, it would ignore the calls for me- providing me with an excuse as to why I didn’t answer someone’s call. (its not my fault my phone “malfunctions..”) I think that bridging the social-technical gap requires very advanced technology- to be created in the distant future.