IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Summer 2013 - 79

as excitement (activation), as they
document vivid descriptions - and
even exaggerated metaphors - of
their user experience.
In relation to the tablet's symbolic significance, it most often
pertains to the aesthetics of the
IT artifact, its admiration as "an
object to own" and the aesthetic
experience and we see that it has
an impact on how users experience
changes in their feeling states. They
report being charmed by the tablet,
captivated by its construction and
the materials used, and frequently
compare it to previously owned
devices. Desire is mapped as an
activation - pleasure feeling state,
while fascination and amazement
fall within the pleasure quadrant.
Such accounts illustrate a strong
association between the sensual and
the emotional aspects of the experience, which have been documented
in previous studies as well [e.g., 18];
however, within our study, this takes
a different meaning. As users refer
directly to their user experience and
interaction with the IT artifact as
"superior", or even "utopian", while
considering it to be "undeniably
inessential" (B28), it is perhaps
within such use cases and contexts
that computing devices may be considered as "irresistible" [19].
While previous studies have
investigated
the
relationship
between users and their computing
devices, technological advances
continuously revolutionize the
field of human-computer interaction. Devices previously perceived
as specialized or belonging to a
niche market, now transcend the
boundaries between the work and
the everyday; such is the case with
tablets. The introduction of the
iPad has popularized this class
of devices across most market
segments and has sparked the
interest of consumers.
To this end, the present study
has added its insight into newly
developed meanings and emotions
around the tablet by examining user
narratives. While in most cases

Table I
Casebook of Study
Country

Gender

Profession

B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
B10
B11
B12
B13
B14
B15
B16
B17
B18
B19
B20
B21
B22
B23
B24

USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
UK
USA
Netherlands
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
Albania
UK
UK
South Africa
USA
Netherlands
UK
UK
USA
USA

Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Female
Male
Male
Male
Male

B25
B26
B27

USA
Canada
USA

Male
Male
Male

B28
B29
B30
B31
B32

UK
UK
USA
USA
USA

Male
Male
Male
Female
Female

Marketing Associate Manager
Minister
Chief Technology Officer
Entrepreneur
Unidentified
Unidentified
Marketing Director
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
Unidentified
IT Project Manager
Social Media Manager
Naval Architect
IT Specialist
Chartered Accountant
Chartered Accountant
Web Designer and Developer
Social Media Manager
Housewife - Retired
UX Designer
Executive Editor
Computer Studies PhD candidate
Management and Engineering
Professor
Start Up Developer
Chief Technology Officer
Social Media & Strategy Visiting
Professor
Executive Editor in a Website
Strategy Consultant
Editor in Chief in a Website
Freelance Web Journalist
Freelance Web Journalist

users hold upper level IT-related or
management-related positions, our
investigation allowed us to examine their experience as it unfolds,
from the context of "office-onthe-move" to the privacy of their
personal environment and everyday life. users develop a strong
sense of attachment to their tablets. Yet, instead of users feeling
at one with the tablets, or assessing
them as an extension of the self, as
illustrated in previous studies [5],
in the case of the tablet, they personalize them and interpret them as
a significant other.

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

|

SuMMEr 2013

In other cases, users' attachment
to the tablet is the result of an experience of meaning or symbolic significance, i.e., possession of a beautiful
artifact, the later deriving from the
tablets' expressive characteristics and
its design elements. The meanings
assigned to the tablet have an evident
impact on users' emotional experience, as no documented account was
neutral of emotions. As an extension
of the office, the tablet leads to feeling states of pleasure-calmness. As
it enters the everyday life, the emotional experience changes to pleasure, pleasure-activation, and pure
|

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