technoculture314-09

Recently I got a new Blackberry bold ‘smart phone’, and it seems that I have become very attached to this device. Over the pass month the phone has become a part of my everyday life, it is there to wake me up in the morning and also to remind me about my appointments. I had seem that I had become dependent of this device and could not be separated with my Blackberry by choice; this led me to think about my situation with Donna Haraways’s (1991) cyborg theory. Could it be that this Blackberry was potentially becoming an extension of my body through this close interaction and dependency?

 My Blackberry has very much become a part of my life and identity. According to Haraway (1991) ‘the cyborg is our ontology’, she is talking about the cyborg as being representations of our identities and thoughts. The way that I have personalized my Blackberry is a good example of Haraway’s (1991) cyborg theory, and the way I use this device for everyday purposes, such as waking me up in the morning and communicating with other people. It has become an extension of my body, almost like a second brain, it has my important dates and everyone’s phone numbers saved. My Blackberry is a technology that has become an important part of my life and allowing me to directly communicate with the public and private sector.

 The thought of losing my Blackberry is an agonizing thought, because of the amount of information that is stored on this device, and also the dependency that I have developed; this Blackberry has become an extension of me. The cyborg theory that Haraway (1991) brings up is a realistic one, especially with the mobile phone. The mobile phone has become such a personal item and people have personalized the wall paper and ring tones to be suit their identities.