Digital and Symbolic

Abstract

Information technologies have a
materiality that imposes itself on us on a daily basis. Even though we can play with these
material characteristics and make them evolve, the object as such limits us: we
can certainly make our smartphone
a flashlight, but we can't
not brush our teeth with it. However,
technological objects are also registered
in a field of symbols that structure
our uses. As evoked by the works
by Lev Vygostki (1997), as an instrument (object and scheme), the technology of
the information has an objective nature (sign
material) and subjective (scheme of use). Technology as a tool works
like a sign, designating and signifying
for a given subject an action scheme
generic. A child in front of a tablet goes
naturally use the fingers to make
pass screens; an adult facing a keyboard
will naturally hit the keys to
to write. In our learning over
our lives, we have associated patterns
of use to objects.