Dear Adam,
I'm sure that the utility expectation of an iPad falls within Marx's
notion of Dame Quickly. That is, in the case of Dame Quickly, the
prostitute, we know where to have her. That is not true of the brothel
Madam. The Madam is a useful - she is a commode - and hence we get
commodities - that is, things that are not part of a direct exchange
(the prostitute provides that) but are abstract add-ons that might
improve my exchange with the prostitute. The Madam might suggest that I
buy the G3 iPad because it comes with GPS and GPS will allow me to do
some extra things and so I thank the Madam for her abstract use. (Mine
has GPS by the way.)
[See the following site for a quickie introduction to Marx and
prostitutes: 'The Shakespearean play being referenced (Henry IV, Part 1,
Act 3, Scene 3) involves a suggestive discussion between Falstaff, who
claims, *Why, she*s neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to
have her*, and Dame Quickly, who replies, *Thou art an unjust man in
saying so: thou or any man knows where to have me, thou knave, thou!*
' N Pepperell 06/08/2008
<http://www.roughtheory.org/content/scratchpad-peculiar-commodities/>].
Dame Quickly, as an iPad is a rather limited lass. She doesn't do USB,
she doesn't do SD, she doesn't do HDMI, she doesn't do file system, she
doesn't do terminal, she doesn't do bendy angles without assistance.
And, so the list goes on. For $500 she will give you WiFi (but no
ethernet) etc. And, oh yes, she spits out Flash with the moral aplomb of
a saint.
Sure, as a commodity you get the glamour aspects of being seen with a
neat magnet cover etc. These extras could be included in a cultural
utility - that is, in my culture you not only need to be seen to be able
to communicate with the latest technologies but you need to be seen as a
person who thinks different and is a pirate and has lots of excess
money. Showing a student an image on a iPad might make the image just so
much better because the image is on an iPad? Love in Paris is just so
much more?
The metric for "does more" can be established, as part of valid
research, via a comparative exchange with Dame Quickly and her sister
Little Linger Longer. Or, we could just ask the Madam for the spec
sheets of each.
I am, of course, playing the devil. Utility, in our age of design,
involves all aspects of use, including the kinds of valorization that
make Starke's objects fun for some. I use the iPad as a scratching post
to relieve my irritations; I use my 7" Droid to feel like a geek and
talk to other geeks who like nothing better than updating their
firmware.
cheers
keith russell
OZ Newcastle
>>> Adam Parker <[log in to unmask]> 01/17/12 11:01 AM >>>
What utility exactly is expected of an iPad? And what metric is a
"does
more" measured on?
Cheers,
Adam
(Newton owner since 1996, Palm owner since 1999, iPad owner since
2010)
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