Digital Fractology

The title of this post is a new phrase that I will use to launch a new science – the study of broken technology. I have hinted at this several times in previous posts, but most of those were rants about particular examples that I had come upon as I went through my labors. I have experienced several more in the past day, and as I have thought about this I think that there is actually something here that needs to be examined in a systematic way. I will first attempt the draft of a formal definition, and then site some recent examples. Hopefully, I will receive some feedback on additions and adjustments to the definition.

Digital Fractology: The study of malfunctioning technology. The malfunction may be in hardware, software or inherent in the human-computer interface.

There are several assumptions in this definition. For example, it is assumed that the malfunction is not trivial, but is inherent in the design of the product. I think another way to say this is that the product is broken by design – when used in its proper configuration, it does not work properly.

Several examples may help explain this.

I recently put an HP 8500 into service in my office. It is a multifunction printer that has a great many positives – it prints well, it copies, it scans, it sets up easily in a wireless network. However, the first time you try to print an envelope you discover that there is no capacity to actually do this easily. The manual is no help, and the web is littered with user-developed work-arounds. Most result in 2 or 3 misprinted envelopes which need to be discarded. When you scan a document with the supplied software there is no way to name that document in a descriptive way. Instead you must first save it with the non-descriptive title of "scan009" (or whatever the next number in the sequence was), then go to the scan directory and rename the file. If you scanned two files at the same time, you must open one to confirm its contents. Both of these are examples of Digital Fractology.

Every morning I visit a web site for news and commentary. The first time this site loads the content is visible for a brief moment, but is then replaced with a blank page. In order to see the content, the site must be refreshed by pushing the refresh button. Once this is done, it then displays the content properly. This is not earth shaking, but it is consistent and it is broken. Another example would be the interaction between pop-ups and pop-up blockers, and the litter of unfilled mini-windows that interaction leaves upon the screen.

I described this in a post on a local technology blog with these words:

My latest fascination is with broken technology, i.e. intuitive interfaces that aren't, absolutely stable environments that crash, broadband communication channels that bottleneck, etc. This does not even venture into the willful acts of malevolence from spyware, viruses and the like. Every act of advancement seems to be matched by a retreat on a different front.

As always, the focus here is on learning technology, so let me close with a note specific to learning. Most of the things that could be described as Digital Fractology are annoying, and perhaps even more so because we have chosen to accept them rather than change them. However, when learners are trying to build new mental models, understand new ideas or work with any of the cognitive processes inherent in learning, any instance of broken technology adds to the cognitive distance between learner and content. As teachers and trainers we should simply not stand for this.

R