<quote who="jeremy hunsinger">
and i think many people have begun to think of the personal computer as an appliance like the toaster....
As an aside to Jeremy's original inquiry, the above statement reminds me of something I just heard at the International Communication Association and thought quite interesting. Robert Larose was making the argument that much of our Internet/technology use is habitual, rather than guided by active choice following uses and gratifications theory (a mass communication theory many of you are probably familiar with). Larose was saying that, i.e., we don't actually choose consciously to check our email in the morning, it's just something that we do automatically because it's part of our routine - like popping two slices of toast into the toaster in the morning (unless you're the corn flakes kind of person, of course, but I'm sure you see the analogy one way or the other). I think this is an interesting perspective and certainly seems true for some of my personal Internet and technology usage. It also goes back to the point Charles Ess brought up on this list just a short time ago when he shared with us that his students don't really exprience the "wow" effect about the Internet and related technology anymore. Some of the people responding to that thread had said that it's probably because younger generations have grown up with the Internet and thus take it for granted. They know no different than the Internet being part of their everday life. Introducing the word "habit" and "habitual use" to describe some of these phenomena may be stating the obvious, but I certainly had never heard it stated quite that openly before and thought I'd share this with you, since Jeremy's statement reminded me of it. Comments? Anyone else encountered this before? Are there theories in other disciplines that address this? Ulla