The electronic devices we use every day for using and consuming media content are the products of labor that is often invisible or hidden. Market trends encourage platform obsolescence which has negative consequences that are often difficult to learn about. Learning more about those practices and the human cost that goes into making our devices cheap and plentiful will give you a larger appreciation for what we mean by “Digital Culture” in this class. In this project, you’ll work to learn more about the life cycle of a specific, unique technological object of your choosing. You will:
- Choose an object;
- Dissect that object into components (8 – 12, ideally);
- Investigate the origins of each of those components to find when and where they were manufactured;
- Create a map and timeline to convey the origin for each of those components;
- Present your findings to the class (October 25 and 27);
- Create a personal reflection post or audio/video recording and post it in your blog or in Canvas.
Reflection:
I chose to take apart a Logitech M185 mouse. I chose to use Logitech’s website as one of my main sources for gathering information since I knew it would be correct. I did use other websites though, mentioned in my sources at the end of my slideshow presentation. Through the Logitech website, I found their Impact report, which had so much information on the company itself, its history, manufacturing places, countries that the resources are obtained from, sustainability and ethical practices, and more. Regarding the mouse itself, I learned that It was first produced in 2011, and is still being made/sold. I did not cover this in my presentation- but I found a date on the mouse, 2015. I learned which countries the minerals and metals come from and where it is manufactured and assembled. I learned that for my specific device, 49% of the plastics used to make it were PCPs (post-consumer recycled plastic)(Not sure about the remaining 51%). I even got to find the companies that Logitech sources their PCP’s from, which was really rewarding, as I know based on some of my classmates’ presentations, that not all companies are as transparent about their materials. I tried to organize my presentation to cover things that were relevant to the mouse, like the company, and previous mice models to compare it to current, types of mice(I did not have time to explain how they all worked and the differences therein), a brief explanation of how the M185 works to track movement (I had a hard time finding out what the specific things on the circuit board as the videos I saw were not of the specific model), the countries that the basic components are obtained and where they are manufactured, and the companies that collect the PCP used in the M185.
