“Why would you want to study me? I’m not that interesting!”

1. “Why would you want to study me? I’m not that interesting!” An Ethnographic study of the use of the Internet, and why the everyday is interesting

4. Reflection on what like to do with their time in the future Wanting to do more with it Routine Disruption from devices not working Patterns of behaviour integrating with changes throughout

5. R: And when this particular incident occurred, when you couldn't sign on to the internet, what was your...? C: Frustration! Because I got used to it. Before I had it I wouldn't have been so cross. But there I am expecting it to go *ding* get into my email as usual, and suddenly I can't. C: And what do you mean 'got used to it'? C: Got used to this facility that was new to me. You do get so used to it. The letters come through the letter box, thank you very much, and I go straight in there [office where the laptop is] and check my email, and when you can't do it, it's annoying.

6. Interview 1 D: I have it because it was kinda the lastest thing and I was due an upgrade. My daughter had one, and I thought if someone has got one, they can show me how to use it...so that's why I had it I think, and I needed an upgrade, and thinking about what to have, and it was kinda recommended as such, and other people were getting them. I take it everywhere I go, because that's my phone. My main thing about Blackberry's is that it is a phone, it's a phone first before any of the other devices on there. I do have it so that I am notified of emails as they come through to my hotmail account. I don't generally use it for the internet, but there are times when I think 'Ah, I can check that now'...lets ask Mr Google. Interview 4 D: ...I think it was kinda newish before, and I'm used to having that. It's in my bag, in my locker most of the day, and then at the end of my working day I'll probably look at it, see if there are any messages. But before I kind of, I think because it was new the idea that I could just go an check my email alerts, and now I think I've kinda lost interest in checking that so often...There was a period where someone at work had emailed me things, blah blahblah, and I hadn't checked them on my hotmail. So when I missed that, I thought 'oh it would be great to have alerts', but since then, nobody’s had anything that's urgent or important. R: So what do you think of your Blackberry now[...]? D: I wish I had waited, I wish I knew a bit more about what other phones offered...because I wonder if there are other functions on other phones (maybe they are on my Blackberry, I don't know), other functions that I am unaware of that I could use, or might be interesting to have...

8. R: So that would be where you say your internet time is, when your children aren’t around. A: Yeah. And also hop on and off, you know, recipes and things when I’m cooking tea in the evenings, or if a bill needs to be paid, then I’ll need to hop onto the internet and do that, and then back off again. R: So you describe that as hop on and hop off... A: Yeah. So I have set periods, where I’m on for long periods of time, like the hour and a half for when he sleeps [indicates to her son], and then in the evening sort of 7 to maybe 9, I’m pretty much always on the internet. Um, but during the day I could pretty much hop back on and off if there is something that I need or something, you know. If I’m sitting here and thinking, ‘who is that actor?’. Instead of it having going through my head, I will just turn the computer on and just have a look and turn it off again. And have music running all day pretty much, around the house the music is going. [...] R: OK. So, does that mean, when you’re doing...the difference say between, say, when the children aren’t around, and that’s when you have your internet time, compared to your hopping on and hopping off. Is what you doing different as well? A: Um...when I’m on for a long period of time I tend to go onto parenting websites and forums and things like that; or I write reviews for a review site; or I read the news online. Whereas, when I am always just hopping on and off, it’s always just for a designated purpose, rather than relaxation.

11. Interview 1 R: So you’ve have this since 2007, and what was the reason to get it, because up until that point, you didn’t have any technologies at all...? C: No, not at all. And I was on various committees and they always had to send me, hardcopies, is it called?, because I didn’t have this facility. And my daughter persuaded me, and she and her boyfriend of the time set me up with it. And I’ve learnt more as I’ve gone along really. Interview 2 C: I went to a commercial college, I didn’t pass my 11 plus, but having said that I went to an extremely good secondary school...that was a wonderful school. But then Mum and Dad thought I ought to go and try and go to a secretarial college, which I did. And thankfully learnt typing because now, with the old laptop, that’s jolly useful isn’t it? [...] I don’t do it [emails] long, because it’s a function, isn’t it? [...] It’s essential now, for me to have email...I don’t like it. No, I don’t like it. But it’s essential.

13. Interview 1 G: ...I've had a PC or laptop, just to be connected really, just to keep - I am an inquisitive person, it's the sort of thing which is great where you can just type in and go 'What is the answer to this question', and not 'Right well I'll have to go to the library, I'll have to go find this book'...It's just so simple to write into Google's search engine (blah blah blah), and not kinda have to wander around the library. [...] I am just intensely impatient. If the internet took 5 minutes to load up, I would probably just give up, and do it another time. For me it is an excellent 'great I got the answer, now I can walk away'. I don't want to spend a good part of my day on finding things out, I want to find it out and then walk away. I want to get a recipe and use it, I don't want to have to wait to wait to do something. [...] I've grown up knowing that if I've got a question it can be answered, I know not instantaneously, but can be answered in 10 minutes[...] The second that [my boyfriend] got the Mac and I used the Mac, I instantly couldn't use my laptop, because I'd had that instant 'excellent I can get stuff that I want and walk away'...whereas before it was fine. Interview 1 G: The Mac is for watching iPlayer and films, because my laptop is very slow, and it's quite old, so I just use the Mac, because it is literally instant. Facebook, websites. It is my first port of call, the Mac. If I was to go anywhere, it would be straight to the Mac.

14. Age and Use connection Wanting to know more/spend time surfing (older participants) Strong Emotional/Personal Connection Strong sense of self with devices/space ‘Tool’ – but want more Impact of the Researcher

15. First Interview G: I use the internet a lot of the time out of a boredom aspect, because I suppose the majority of time I go on the internet is not actually to do something, it would be because I am a bit bored, so I might as well check my Facebook, or I'll watch something on the BBC iPlayer. Not a lot of my time is spent actually doing something on the internet. Second Interview G: I spend a lot of my time, time wasting. A lot of my internet time was not to do anything in particular, it was more to just waste time. Towards the end of the week I started to embarrass myself with how little constructive time I used on the internet, but also just how much time I wasted on maybe watching too much iPlayer, or being on Facebook. It wasn't constructive as such. [...] I use it sometime positively, but my whole feel of the internet is a negative. It is more of a distraction, and a distraction in a bad sense.

16. Second Interview J: I would excuse a lot of my dabbling and usage as playing or experimenting. I think sometimes I would use it [idea of 'Academic Interest'] as an excuse as to why I spend money on certain things, or enticed to try something out, or to admit that I won't really justify it as a need, a bit of 'Academic Interest', when it is just a toy to play with. [...] In terms of the Internet...I think we have a need for it these days, in order to accomplish what we want to do. [...] I suppose deep down it is based on the things we are persuaded to do in modern life or in society now, in western society today, in this country, particularly, is not really necessary, is not really justified, it is something that is the economy that we are involved in, pushing us to buy things...It might be that I maybe feel that's what's happening, that I should excuse it or rationalise it in some way, or just say that I'm going along with it to some extent, I don't really need it or do it, I excuse it with the idea of 'academic interest'.

17. Second Interview M: It's an instant gratification...it is very instant. Why is it I get a buzz from getting an email? Maybe it's because I am very anti-social but would really like to be the sort of person who has hundreds of friends who ring and email all the time, and actually that's not me at all, so maybe it's this feeling that there's all these people emailing me but actually it is Marks and Spencer's, or Tesco's. [...] R: So where does this connection with technology come in then? M: Well the email one is almost phone calls made visible, it's the equivalent of 4 friends ringing you up every evening. It's how many people have emailed me? Don't know if it necessarily matters that it is technology, it's just the way of communication. It might just be the same as if 10 years ago checking your answer phone. R: Do you prefer emailing? Has emailing replaced calls? M: Oh yeah, I never use the phone really...emails and texts. R: So it's all text based? Why has this taken over? M: Because it's easier to be rejected and not feel it personally. It's less challenging, less threatening. To an anti-social person, it is much easier to email or text, definitely.