CANCELLED - DISTRACT seminar with Alexander Taylor

CANCELLED

Title:
Are digital devices turning us into ‘data preppers’?

Abstract:
Anticipating the failure of digital devices has become part of the fabric of everyday life in the digital world. With their fragile components and ever-shortening lifespans, digital technologies increasingly require their users to take preparatory action if they want to avoid losing their precious photos, files and other data when device failure should inevitably arise. Programs like Apple’s ‘Time Machine’ or Windows’ ‘Backup and Restore’ enable users to quickly and easily back-up their computers onto external hard drives, while cloud storage services back-up our devices automatically when a Wi-Fi connection is available. In this talk I will approach practices of ‘backing-up’ through the lens of preparedness, asking how a focus on ‘data prepping’ might extend current explorations of human-technology and human-data relations.

Alexander Taylor is lecturer at the Department of School of Media and Film, University of Winchester, UK.