DTC #5

The iFruit series of comics from the strip FoxTrot displays what Deborah Lupton calls “the humanized computer” (426). Lupton primarily references advertising as a location for making computers seem “humanized,” but the same ideology employed by advertisements is employed else where in culture. More iFruit strips can be seen here.

In the case of FoxTrot, the Foxes' iFruit communicates like humans. It talks, it feels and it thinks. In the strip above, it shows emotion by wanting a hug. In the strip below, it expresses its desire to be upgraded. Much like the ads Lupton discusses make computers seem longing for their “new toys,” Bill Amend has the Fox’s iFruit literally asking for its upgrades in the form of a Christmas list. And when the computer is threatened with not getting its Christmas wish fulfilled, it accesses another human trait: blackmail.
It’s never explained why the iFruit can talk and how this computer has emotions, it’s just left to be understood by the reader. And the reason that’s okay is because our society has been conditioned to think of computers as living, thinking, learning things. Human-like machines, not just tools that sit on our desks. Though none of us have a computer that behaves as humanly as advertisements or FoxTrot act, it’s a concept we mostly understand and accept without even thinking. Some of this is due to how fascinating the technology still is to us, and some is from the powers that be that Lupton discusses presenting humanized computers to us. Once you see it enough, it’s just a part of their cultural identity to you.
On a side note, another ideology of Lupton's can be seen in FoxTrot, and that's "the hacker's body" (425). Jason Fox fits the hacker stereotype, purposefully, to the letter. He has thick glasses, unkempt hair, poor social skills, a gigantic intellect and an addiction to his technology. His interests are geeky and his knowledge beyond his years, and yet much of his personality is immature.


I think the most significant thing I've learned about digital culture in this class so far is the fact that everything is designed for a purpose, but that design is not necessarily the way things have to be or should have been. Further, that design is something that can create a digital divide. An example is from Selfe and Selfe's "Politics of the Interface." They discuss the GUI interface of most computers as a white collar office setting, with a desktop and files and other sorts of things someone from the background that most with computers are familiar with (486-87). It had never crossed my mind this wasn't "the way things are supposed to be" and instead is "the way things happen to be" and an element of digital division. Remembering what's conveyed by style choices may not be appropriate for all current and future intended audiences is something I intend to take from this class.



Works Cited

1. Amend, Bill. FoxTrot. Universal Press Syndicate, 2010. Web. 23 Sep 2010.
2. Lupton, Deborah. "The Embodied Computer/User." Cybercultures Reader. 2nd Ed. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. Print.
3. Selfe, and Selfe. Politics of the Interface. 1994. 485-88.