Conceptualising poker machine gambling as a technological zone

Abstract

Australia’s commercial gambling industry is a significant economic and social phenomenon. In particular, poker machine gambling in club and hotel venues has grown into a consumption market worth ten billion dollars. Yet little effort has been made to understand the emergence of this market from a theoretical point of view. This article adapts the concept of the ‘technological zone developed by Andrew Barry, to the formation of club and hotel poker machine gambling consumption markets. It is argued that these markets are socio-technical achievements based on the dispersal of technical devices throughout social space. Key theoretical elements of technological zones, including metrology, infrastructure and qualification are applied to poker machine gambling markets to shed light on their material basis. It is argued that instituting material forms of technological government and commodity circulation simultaneously enables fast, continuous consumption, the micro-management of economic activity and reduction in costs associated with innovation and entry into multiple markets. It is also suggested that the formation of a technological zone forges something of a separation from historical concerns about the probity and fairness of gambling business