Two users

Abstract

There are certain things that are difficult to define; freedom , beauty, truth... Well, here's a new one; toast. Toast truly is in the eye of the beholder, ask any couple living together. I like toast to be real toast, Wendelyrme however enjoys slightly warmed bread for breakfast, and accuses me of burning the toast every time I make it. Although not as fundamental an issue as freedom, beauty or truth, I'm fairly confident that more time has been spent discussing (or arguing) about this issue than any of the others. However with the advent of clever technology we can now side-step this and discuss things like freedom, truth and beauty at breakfast over perfect pieces of toast. Much of today's new technology is intimate , it is carried, worn or intended for personal use by one user. Think of mobile-phones, laptops, organizers. MP3 players. However, there is still a lot out there that is less intimate, it just sits around in the kitchen or bedroom until someone, anyone, comes along to use it, and although it is designed for one user, it usually ends up in domestic environ-~"" ~ ' ments inhabited by a couple_ This needn't be a problem, unless the technology needs to be used independently by both people at the same time, like the bathroom ('Well what are you doing in there?'), the phone (' Shall I tell you how long you were on for?') or the television ('No I don't want to watch it, it's just monkeys and space and nothing happens in it'). More general problems do arise with technology owned by couples if that technology can be parameterized-which is jargon for setting-up various things before you actually use the technology. Think of setting the dial on the toaster for how well-done the toast will be. ('Hang on honey I'm just parametrizing the toaster'). This is when you realize that you both have different ideas about what it should be set to; that you prefer real toast and your partner doesn't. Or you realize when you share the same push-bike or car how short your partners legs actually are, or that they prefer showers that are scalding hot and leave the shower set on 'scalding hot' when they have finished, that they must have incredible hearing because they only need the TV volume on 2 which makes you think it's bust when you come …