Dear All,
After what we hope was a restful summer break for everyone, we’re pleased
to announce the next session of the SPT maintenance and philosophy of
technology special interest group on Friday 22nd June (18-1915 UTC +1). In
this session, I’ll be giving a presenting my recent research on the design
history of the iPhone which looks specifically at the processes these
artefacts undergo after their production. By illustrating the different
ways these devices have served as sites through which materials flow, we'll
explore not only the fluidity of iPhones in different contexts but also the
political struggles between different actors which have shaped these
processes. If you'd like a link for this talk, email me at
mark@markthomasyoung.net
Best,
Mark
“Smartphone Metabolisms: Material Flows in the Evolution of the iPhone"
Mark Thomas Young (University of Oslo)
August 22nd 2025 (18-1915 UTC +1)
Abstract: This presentation explores the design history of the iphone as
a backdrop against which to introduce and examine two new concepts in
maintenance and repair studies which are useful for examining the processes
artifacts undergo after their production. The first, disassembility
captures the extent to which the parts of an artifact can be separated
without destroying them or the object. Insofar as it depends not only on
how objects are designed, but also on the availability of skills, knowledge
and equipment, the disassembility of artifacts are often determined by a
much wider range of actors than the producers of a technology alone. We’ll
begin exploring how this applies to the iphone by examining how the
separability of components has changed throughout the design history of the
device. Then we’ll turn our attention to iphone displays and explore how
the disassembility of these components change as they move between and
across different contexts before examining some recent initiatives to
disrupt the existing landscape through the development of specialized
equipment which enable the disassembly of displays in new contexts. The
second part of the presentation introduces the concept of artifact
metabolism by exploring how objects serve as sites through which
materials flow in the form of spare parts and consumables. As I’ll attempt
to show, the metabolic natures of artifacts often result from negotiation
between different actors. To illustrate this in the case of the iphone,
we’ll review attempts by Apple to constrain the metabolism of the phone, by
restricting the accessibility of OEM parts and creating barriers to
replacement through initiatives such as software pairing or designing
phones in ways which discourage user repairs. Then we’ll look at how these
initiatives are balanced by attempts to facilitate the metabolism of the
device by a range of other actors, including third party parts
manufacturers in China and right to repair activists who disseminate the
knowledge and equipment required for the replacement of parts and
consumables.
(In order to avoid confusion regarding the timing of the talk - the
following table clarifies when the talk begins in different locations)
Amsterdam 7:00pm
London 6:00pm
Toronto (New York) 1:00pm
San Francisco 10:00am
Mark Thomas Young
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Oslo
https://uio.academia.edu/MarkThomasYoung
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