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"Will it bring us together or draw us apart?"
Archiving Community Social Relationships with Technology of "Fast/Slow" Adopters.
Continuing with the research of communities living on the periphery of mainstream practice, Hathaway Designs and designer Gwendolyn Floyd document the practices of social engagement with technology by the North American Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities. Hathaway Designs and Floyd see the potential of learning from groups such as these and their sustainable and self-regulated relationships to technology to inform contemporary product design with a social capital focus. The Old Orders are an unexpected example of long term social, cultural, and economic sustainability based on tenants such as flexibility, hacking, solidarity, improvement, and community. Open Source has been systematically used for generations in terms of collective authorship, a DIY/DIT culture to maintain independence and an attitude of sharing so people can make better solutions.
Hathaway and Floyd are formulating a database of social practices and codes of these and other groups who are actively engaged with the direction of technology that may or may not be adopted into their communities. They can take years or days to approve a technology for the use of their community, but in all cases, whether it is a cell phone, a computer, or a credit card, the technology is first tested by testers in the community and under the rules of social enhancement. If it does not pass the test it is not allowed. However, hacking with technology to suit their needs is often used, and creates an array of unique hybrids.
Here is an excerpt from a list of questions to consider in your design process inspired by the Old Order Mennonite and Amish:
-does the use of technology bring people together or draw them apart?
-how can this technology enhance both one's productivity as well as identity?
-will technology replace work done by a person and therefore their role and purpose in community?
-how will things effect people and a community in the long term?
-Are we relying more on things than each other to create social interactions and sustainability?
Archiving Community Social Relationships with Technology of "Fast/Slow" Adopters.
Continuing with the research of communities living on the periphery of mainstream practice, Hathaway Designs and designer Gwendolyn Floyd document the practices of social engagement with technology by the North American Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities. Hathaway Designs and Floyd see the potential of learning from groups such as these and their sustainable and self-regulated relationships to technology to inform contemporary product design with a social capital focus. The Old Orders are an unexpected example of long term social, cultural, and economic sustainability based on tenants such as flexibility, hacking, solidarity, improvement, and community. Open Source has been systematically used for generations in terms of collective authorship, a DIY/DIT culture to maintain independence and an attitude of sharing so people can make better solutions.
Hathaway and Floyd are formulating a database of social practices and codes of these and other groups who are actively engaged with the direction of technology that may or may not be adopted into their communities. They can take years or days to approve a technology for the use of their community, but in all cases, whether it is a cell phone, a computer, or a credit card, the technology is first tested by testers in the community and under the rules of social enhancement. If it does not pass the test it is not allowed. However, hacking with technology to suit their needs is often used, and creates an array of unique hybrids.
Here is an excerpt from a list of questions to consider in your design process inspired by the Old Order Mennonite and Amish:
-does the use of technology bring people together or draw them apart?
-how can this technology enhance both one's productivity as well as identity?
-will technology replace work done by a person and therefore their role and purpose in community?
-how will things effect people and a community in the long term?
-Are we relying more on things than each other to create social interactions and sustainability?
We would like to thank Ed Janzen, Chaplain at the Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ontario for his input into our research and the Mennonite community of Waterloo, Ontario.