10 - A Smart, Collected or Modulated World?

Summary

Chapter 10 concludes the book by asking the question of whether we are heading for a smart, collected or modulated world. The smart world is an uncritical one where the technological wonderment of sensorised devices and seamless service provision is accepted without question. The collected world provides a different view of the smart world, albeit largely descriptive, which highlights the underlying logics at play in relation to ubiquitous collections of sensor data. The modulated world is defiantly critical and is intended to surface the normative basis of embedded power that flows in modulated forms of knowledge production and prescriptive governance. One of the simple ways we can create a world that ensures greater benefits from technological integration, including sensorised data collections, involves our unceasing ability to tinker and play, especially in data collecting institutions.