From Talking to Texting

The telephone has been around long before the digital age, but like may other non digital items such as televisions, watches and music players the telephone has also become digital. In its transformation from an analogue to digital device the telephone has gone though many changes, all of which which have ultimately led to the smartphone we have today. This adoption to the smartphone, albeit gradual was inevitable because it has ultimately led to a digital device which fulfills all four of Janet H. Murray’s Four Affordances.

According to Janet H. Murray (left) there are four criteria that all digital devices, no matter what their function or nature, must meet. These four criteria are what she calls the “Four Affordances.” They are Procedural, Participatory, Encyclopedic and Spatial. The Procedural affordance requires the digital device to have some form of rules, which must be applied to the way in which it is used and functions. In order to be participatory there must be some form of interaction between human being and the digital device. The Encyclopedic affordance requires the device to contain a “very high capacity of information in multiple media formats.” Finally the spatial element of the four affordances states that the digital device can be navigated, therefore meaning that it consumes some form of digital space that can be explored and utilized.

The telephone originally only had one function: to be able to transmit spoken communication between two people who were not near each other. This device, although it connected people, was not a digital invention. This can clearly be seen because it does not fulfill all four of Murray’s affordances. It can be argued that this invention is procedural because it has a set of rules, such as the need for a telephone number, and participatory because it enables the caller to participate with the device by dialing the number. However this device is only analogue and does not take up any digital space nor offer any source of information which can cause it to be considered encyclopedic.

The next advancement of the telephone is the cell phone.

This device, while not fully digital like the modern day smartphone, does fulfill more of the four affordances than the telephone, thereby, laying the foundation for the development of the fully digital smartphone. A cell phone is Procedural and Participatory in the same way that the original telephone is; however, it goes one step further and additionally has an element of encyclopedic nature because even the most basic cell phones were able to retain a database of cellphone numbers. However this does not completely fulfill the quota for the affordance of encyclopedic because it does not contain information “in multiple media formats”’ as Murray stipulates is needed for the encyclopedic element to be satisfied. The development of the contact list adds another participatory element to the phone because not only does it allow the caller to dial the number but it also enables the caller to put a name to a particular number as well. The addition of the contact list adds a spatial element to the device because it makes the cell phone no longer only a machine where all that can be done is physically dialing a number but now it can store and utilize previously saved numbers in a separate place then where they are physically dialed.

With the invention of the modern-day smart phone all the criteria of the four affordances have finally been met and the telephone had completed its metamorphosis from an analogue machine to a fully digital gadget. Using an iPhone 6 as an example it is clear to see all the ways in which the smartphone is a completely digital device. Just like the pervious two versions before, the iPhone still operates by a basic set of rule where a phone requires a phone number and that number must be dialed before being connected to another phone. The participatory element is similar as well, however, with the smartphone not only can the owner now call a person but they can also interact with the device via text messaging or navigation through any of the other various applications that have been added to the phone. The iPhone is encyclopedic not only in having a contact list but also a photos app that saves all the photographs taken by the devise, an internet app that enables the owner to have easy access to the internet and all the information found there. These additions add more and different forms of media information to the device and they also create a larger digital landscape upon which the user is able to digitally spatially navigate through his or her phone. Therefore, with the invention of the smartphone all the four affordances have finally been met because of the various developments that untimely led to the achievement of a fully digital telephone.