Making WiFi: A Sociological Study of Backyard Technologists in Suburban Australia

This thesis explores the culture of new digital technology - Wireless Fidelity (WiFi). Drawing on an ethnography of the largest not-for-profit community WiFi group in Australia, it examines how members construct a communications network that spans across the largely suburban city of Adelaide by connecting together home-made antennas, many ofwhich are located in their own backyards. I show how these individuals, whom I term backyard technologists, collectively make WiFi using a diverse range of materials and improvised methods in places and at times outside conventional information communication technology (lCT) innovation contexts. They imbue a DoIt-Yourself (DIY) ethic yet importantly they do not do it alone - they Do-It-Together (DIT). My study begins by examining the role and importance of representations established in science and technology studies (STS), particularly in the work of Latour and Woolgar (1979) and Henderson (1999). In these contexts, objects and methods of rendering are linked to particular ways of seeing the world: the production of graphs, diagrams and images are seen as pivotal to understanding how practitioners collaborate, construct knowledge and recruit allies. Central to this literature is the idea of stable, rigorously ordered and immutable public 'facts' that reduce, or entirely erase ambiguity and alternative interpretation. Foregrounding the many representations WiFi members make, I describe how regular encounters with trees, thieves, birds, possums, neighbours, technical complications, a myriad of materials and the weather are implicated in the daily practice of making WiFi. Rather than filtering out and tidying up daily interruptions, I show how members build them into their network. My analysis reveals the public exposure of the messy middlework of making WiFi and I explain that this practice is not a consequence of a fragile technology, the elastic nature of the group or an unpredictable environment but rather deliberately produced, critical to how they innovate, expand the network and recruit new members. Drawing on Actor Network Theory (ANT), I argue that the current understanding of representations in STS does not account for an expanded typology, that is, the possibility of multi-dimensional co-located contingent assemblies of knowledge. Moreover, attending to the nuances and textures ofthis homebrew high-tech network, this thesis establishes the presence of a distinct version of WiFi - an Australian WiFi - thus contributing to the study of different versions of ICTs (Miller and Slater 2000; Goggin 2004; 2007; Ito et a12005). It concludes by proposing alternate means of representing mess in STS and more broadly in the craft of sociolog

FLOSSTV Free, Libre, Open Source Software (FLOSS) within participatory 'TV hacking' Media and Arts Practices

This research operates in the context of a European political discourse, where the main concern is counter­cultural approaches to non­ mandatory collaboration and contractual agreements. FLOSSTV (Free, Libre, Open Source Software TV) covers a broad range of practices, from television via documentary up to media arts productions. This thesis documents the endeavour to formulate a policy for FLOSS culture. FLOSSTV studies the impact of new intellectual property legislation on media production, as well as conceptions and applications of collective authorship and alternative licensing schemes. FLOSSTV sets out to explore methods that can facilitate media and arts practitioners wishing to engage in collaborative media productions. The thesis sets out to investigate the theories and histories of collaborative media and arts productions in order to set the ground for an exploration of the tools, technologies and aesthetics of such collaborations. The FLOSSTV thesis proposes a set of contracts and policies that allow for such collaborations to develop. It is through practice that this research explores FLOSS culture, including its methods, licensing schemes and technologies. In order to focus the research within the field of FLOSSTV I initiated the practice ­based Deptford.TV pilot project as the central research experiment for the FLOSSTV thesis. DVD ONE contains a series of films produced collaboratively for Deptford.TV that express the characteristics and contractual arrangements of FLOSS culture. Deptford.TV is an online audiovisual database primarily collecting media assets around the Deptford area, in South­East London, UK. Deptford.TV functions as an open, collaborative platform that allows artists, film­makers, researchers and participants of the local workshops in and around Deptford, and also beyond Deptford, to store, share, re­edit and redistribute their footage and projects. The open and collaborative nature of the Deptford.TV project demonstrates a form of shared media practice in two ways: audiences become producers by submitting their own footage, and the database enables the contributors to interact with each other. Through my practice­lead research project Deptford.TV I argue that, by supporting collaborative methods and practices, FLOSS (Free, Libre, Open Source Software) can empower media and arts practitioners to collaborate in production and distribution processes of media and arts practices

Consumer product invention: some developmental, economic & consumer aspects

This study of the British Bicycle and Domestic Radio Receiver industries produced a model of invention/product design having the following features: Invention depended mainly on the combined effect of three factors, each with changing significance over a three-stage life cycle. Technology Factor: Induced a cumulative sequence of inventions to improve product performance, of various origins (ideas, problems, techno-transfers or science). This factor most important in the first Incubation stage, of equal importance in second Early Growth stage and of incremental importance in final Mature stage. Economic Factor: Induced invention to suit market, mainly for cheaper, lower performance products but also for superlative models. This factor inoperative at Incubation stage, very important at Early Growth stage and important at Mature stage. Consumer Factor: Induced invention to make products more appealing to consumer; for simpler/automatic operation, greater reliability, accessories and new uses. This factor inoperative at Incubation stage, important at Early Growth stage and supremely important at Mature stage. Product life-cycle pattern a sequence of new models subsequently improved until an basic satisfactory design achieved, later incrementally improved. Empirical invention often systematic and as important as scientific invention; science often used to define design problem. Peak invention in Early Growth stage to explore all technical possibilities, design trade-offs and for market share. Invention and Demand: No direct and proportional relationship. Initial demand due to novelty appeal of function, subsequent rapid increased demand due to better technical product performance, lower product prices and increased income-related purchasing power. After market saturation demand declined despite better, sometimes radical, designs; as consumers sought other new products

ICT access and use in the remote rural town of Hatherleigh (Devon, UK): towards citizen engagement?

Information communication technologies (ICTs) have reached into everyday life. This emphasises the increasing importance of understanding the relationship between ICTs and society (Giddens 1994; Castells 1996; Walsham 2001). Over the last few decades, ICTs have shaped many aspects of society, and the specific role that ICTs have played in influencing government and governance structures has received particular attention. Today, the term 'governance' is widely used and accepted amongst a variety of academics and practitioners. However, in recent years the processes by which rural areas are governed have changed remarkably. Many scholars accept the conceptual and theoretical debate concerning the actual and potential impact of ICTs as a powerful force shaping governance (Goodwin 1998; MacKinnon 2002), but few have attempted to support their argument by conducting detailed empirical analyses of the role and influence of ICTs for egovernance processes in rural communities. This thesis addresses this gap by analysing the linkages between ICT access and use in a remote rural area of the UK. The thesis presents an in-depth case study analysis of a rural market town (Hatherleigh) located in west Devon. It examines ICT access and use in Hatherleigh considering that individual levels of ICT adoption are uneven, depending on factors such as age, gender, employment and family composition (Ofcom 2006; Selg and Svensoon 2008). It follows a wider call in the area of rural and ICT studies that many remote rural areas face serious challenges in their efforts to benefit from the opportunities offered by ICTs (Woods 2005; Moseley and Owen 2008). The thesis particularly builds on Okot-Uma's (2001), Millard's (2003) and Odendaal's (2003) work on the impact of ICT on governance and potential changes in service delivery to rural areas. To understand the impact of ICTs on e-governance in rural areas more fully, specific emphasis is placed on how Hatherieigh residents use the internet for accessing on-line information and services and how they use the internet to engage with policy stakeholders within and beyond Hatherleigh. A specific focus is placed on analysing barriers affecting e-governance processes ranging from the local to the national scale. Ill The methodology used to collect empirical data is based on a multi-method approach, including questionnaires, interviews and participant observation to explore interactions between Hatherteigh residents and ICTs. The results suggest that ICT has changed the social landscape of rural communities such as Hatherleigh in terms of communication and job opportunities, and that it plays a key role in reducing feelings of distance and isolation. A key result is that the internet plays an important role for e-governance interactions at the regional/national level, but that it only plays a minor role at the local level. A key explanation for these different 'geographies of ICT use' is that remote mral locations such as Hatherleigh are (still) characterized by relatively close-knit communities where physical face-to-face interaction still plays an important role, thereby reducing the need for internet use to access local information. The study also suggests a typology of non-users in Hatherleigh, suggesting that non-users are a highly differentiated group in which some segments are relatively keen to use ICT in the future, while others continue to staunchly resist using ICTs. The latter are a particularly problematic group as they may be 'doubly' excluded by both living in a remote mral area that has lost some of its services (to some extent because of ICT availability) and by not being interested in using ICTs to overcome such disadvantages

The virtual farmer. Past, present, and future of the Dutch peasantry

The virtual farmer guides us towars a better understanding of the associated identities and practices that make up the agricultural sector. In this book the author developes a new and integrated view of agriculture and the countryside - a perspective that combines historical, economic, social, cultural and political dimensions with the technological. At the same time he attempts to identify new developments that might provide the bases for reestablishing public's confidence in the country's agriculture - a reconciliation that is urgently needed

Reader Collective Memory-Work

The Reader CMW presents first time English translations of material from the development phase of Collective Memory-Work in the 1980s in Germany, and also contemporary essays from 2020 and 2021 on a large variety of adaptations of the method across disciplinary and geographical boundaries

Australian votes in the making: a critical review of voter behaviour research in Australia

Raphaella Kathryn Crosby conducted a critical review of the theory and method of voter behaviour research, with a focus on the 2019 Australian federal election. She found there was little agreement or consensus among the research, and no common narrative of the election. Using a Grounded Theory approach she identified five distinct battlegrounds of the 2019 election, and proposed two new theories to explain seemingly illogical voter behaviour