Objects in Flux - RMIT Research Repository - RMIT University

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Objects in Flux [Figure 4-4 – top left] Samsung NC10 3G modem hack by João de Oliveira, 2009. Photograph Oliveira. [Figure 4-5 – middle left] GameBoy Drum Machine (solenoid) hack by Jowan Sebastian, 2008. Photograph Sebastian. [Figure 4-6 – bottom left] Circuit bending a ‘Speak & Spell’. Photograph Pete Edwards. 58 [Figure 4-7 – top right] iPod firmware (graphics) hack developed by IpodWizard, 2004. Photograph Phillip Torrone. [Figure 4-8 – middle right] Traffic sign hacked in Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A. Photograph Amelia Wilhelm. [Figure 4-9 – bottom right] IKEA bag raincoat by scasper. Photograph Stephanie Casper.
ience, ‘blindly theorizing about what the machine was like’ in theses that were of no real use (1984, p. 97). Where research students speculated about the future applications of computing, hackers were ‘living the future of computers’ (Fredkin, as quoted in Levy, 1984). Hackers saw themselves as explorers, as the ‘Advance Chopper to the System’, hacking the future into being (Levy, 1984). Operating outside both the pragmatic interests of the university administration and the ‘scientific’ research community, MIT hackers disrupted the traditional dichotic relationship between practice and theory. Hacking’s disregard for the separation of theory and practice and its blurring of professional and private domains destabilise the objective, disinterested premise on which professionalism is founded. In light of this, Ross claims hacking has been designated ‘a strictly amateur practice’, where ‘the tension in hacking between interestedness and disinterestedness is different from, and deficient in relation to, the proper balance demanded by professionalism’. As such, hacking ‘serves as an example of professionalism gone wrong, if not very wrong’ (2000, p. 257). This irreconcilable relation to normalised academic practices and professional production frames hacking as a disruptive and deviant act. The failure of institutions (both academic and professional) to capture hacking, i.e. to give an adequate account of hacking’s productive potential, renders both the labour of hacking, and the products of this labour, largely invisible within the institutional order. In light of this, hacking practices are generally perceived as a threat to traditional property ownership, ‘normative educational ethics’ and the professionalisation of knowledge (Ross, 2000). Within the field of object modification, ‘hack’ is generally used to describe a quick or unusual modification that challenges established modes of operation. Modifications are often centred on functionality where hacking typically adds to, or alters, the object’s original function. Examples of object hacking include: adding a 3G modem to portable devices, 14 changing the iPod firmware to display custom graphics, 15 using a GameBoy to trigger solenoids 16 and altering the text on electronic road signs. 17 A number of Internet sites focus specifically on object hacking. Generally taking the form of aggregator blogs, these sites present diverse arrays of modified objects. Prominent examples include Hack a Day and Hacked Gadget. 18 Hacking, Modding and DIY 14/ http://bassoptumc.blogspot. com/2009/06/samsung-nc10-internal-3g-easy-mod.html accessed 18 February 2010; http://www.liliputing. com/2008/10/gigabyte-m912-hack- adding-an-internal-3g-modem.html accessed 18 February 2010; http:// tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/ modding-the-acer-aspire-one-hsdpa/ accessed 18 February 2010. 15/ http://www.engadget. com/2004/12/08/how-to-hacking-the- ipod-firmware-changing-the-graphics/ accessed 18 February 2010. For more on iPod hacking see Chapter 6: Strat- egies of Control and Tactics of Use. 16/ http://devel.8bitplateau.net/ kbang accessed 18 February 2010. 17/ Hackers of road signs often repeat similar slogans; popular text includes ‘ZOMBIES ARE COMING’, ‘RAPTORS AHEAD’, and ‘ALL YOUR BASE ARE BE- LONG TO US’, http://www.signhacker. com accessed 18 February 2010. Reports of electronic road sign hacks have appeared in numerous media channels (Byrnes and Voyles, 2009; Miller, 2009; Wert, 2009). 18/ Hacked Gadgets, http://hacked- gadgets.com/ accessed 18 February 2010; Hack a Day, http://hackaday. com/ accessed 18 February 2010. 59
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Objects in Flux the consumer modifi
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Acknowledgements For editing skill
Page 7 and 8: Contents Abstract 11 1. Introductio
Page 9 and 10: 6.6 GI Joe 113 6.7 Sony Aibo 114 6.
Page 11: Abstract This research investigates
Page 14 and 15: Objects in Flux 1/ De Certeau links
Page 16 and 17: Objects in Flux 16 This understandi
Page 18 and 19: Objects in Flux 18 2005). Beyond th
Page 20 and 21: Objects in Flux 20 practices of con
Page 22 and 23: Objects in Flux 22 the construction
Page 24 and 25: Objects in Flux 24 3. Remaking Thin
Page 27 and 28: 2. 2.1 Introduction Rethinking Obje
Page 29 and 30: 2002). From a structuralist positio
Page 31 and 32: As social relations shift with time
Page 33 and 34: chameleon-like freezer takes on the
Page 35: take place, whereas tactics can onl
Page 38 and 39: Objects in Flux [Figure 3-2] FIX co
Page 40 and 41: Objects in Flux 4/ Quotes indicate
Page 42 and 43: Objects in Flux [Figure 3-6 - top]
Page 44 and 45: Objects in Flux [Figure 3-12 - top]
Page 46 and 47: Objects in Flux 10/ In interpreting
Page 48 and 49: Objects in Flux 11/ As noted by Mic
Page 50 and 51: Objects in Flux 12/ Similar practic
Page 53 and 54: 4. 4.1 Introduction Hacking, Moddin
Page 55 and 56: 4.2 Hacking Use of the terms ‘hac
Page 57: tion’ (2001). Within the FOSS mov
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Page 63 and 64: [4-23] [4-24] Hacking, Modding and
Page 65 and 66: Third row: [4-20] Toaster computer
Page 67 and 68: narratives. 34 Internet sites that
Page 69 and 70: The legality of developing, distrib
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Page 92 and 93: Objects in Flux cal operation, etc.
Page 94 and 95: Objects in Flux mode of engagement
Page 96 and 97: Objects in Flux principles. From pe
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Page 105 and 106: 6. 6.1 Introduction Stategies of Co
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pert’ advice to support their cla
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6.4 Apple repair manuals While this
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legality of this claim is largely i
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through direct action but rather th
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out of the products they own and lo
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6.10 Tactics of use Operating withi
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are marginalised by the contemporar
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6.12 User-generated content In the
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diversity of cooperative relations
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queuing outside these buildings bec
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Objects in Flux 130 cal and commonp
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Objects in Flux 132 it is also reen
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Objects in Flux 134 in material and
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Objects in Flux 136 tion. In additi
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Objects in Flux 138
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Objects in Flux Figure 4-12 ‘Comm
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Objects in Flux Figure 6-6 Sony Aib
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Objects in Flux 144
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Objects in Flux Buechley, L., Paulo
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Objects in Flux jmke. (2004). Back
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Objects in Flux Rimmer, M. (2006).
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Objects in Flux 152
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Objects in Flux 2004 Cactus door ha
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