Making “Disappearing” Disappear

Paul DourishInformation & Computer Science

UC Irvine

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• the rhetoric– computing is become ubiquitous and hence

invisible

• the practice– I have more computers than ever before– I encounter more computers than ever before– the trend is actually going the other way

• instead of my computer becoming more like my TV, stereo or telephone, they’re becoming more like my computer

– yesterday’s keynote was a perfect example…

the problems of “disappearance”

• computers won’t disappear from our world– but they should disappear from how we talk and think

• the computer is not the problem– instead, it’s the computer’s inflexible obtrusiveness

• how does the computer manifest itself in daily activity?• how can I engage with the computer as a tool?• how can I appropriate technology for new ends?• the mutuality of tool and task

• the solution to these problems is not invisibility– inflexible absence is as bad as inflexible presence!

those who forget the past…

• it’s HCI all over again– “I don’t want to use a word processor; I just

want to write”– “the interface should disappear”

• the rise of design– the communicative role of artifacts

• artifacts quite pointedly don’t disappear– instead, they offer themselves for different

forms and different degrees of engagement

the technical trends

• the technology trends are clear– smaller, lighter, faster, cheaper…– our reliance on computation will increase

• and, as a technophile, I’m happy about that

• the question is, what we’ll do about them– “disappearance” is a non-goal– we need to think more critically about how we

engage with technology in everyday life– we need to develop conceptual understandings

of forms of technology engagement

conceptual understandings

• how people encounter technology in the world– as a part of everyday interaction– as a basis for meaningful practical activity– as a site for engaged action

• embodiment– a sense of phenomenological presence

• underwrites trends in tangible and social computing

• CSCW is uniquely positioned to address this– the relationship between technology and practice– the social and situated nature of computer work– the outward-directed focus of online activity

parting thoughts

• a world of sensible coexistence– a device focus leads to interconnection

nightmares

• back to the desktop!– stuck in 1984 for ever?

• let’s make “disappearing” disappear– let’s focus, instead, on appropriate

appearance