Private and public institutions shape life through the design of various technical products and services for daily use. In many cases, users employ such products and services as recommended by advertisements and manuals provided by manufacturers or as dictated by institutionally-defined regulations. Other users do not follow these conventions and develop their own modes of usage or technical solutions. We aim to explore new historical perspectives on the question of how and why people deal with technology, by examining playful and unconventional uses of technical products and services. Such approaches to technology question the power relations embedded in products and services, but may also be classified as exercises in power. What are the consequences and wider implications?

The session in Katowice will focus on the following themes in the history of technology:
- Playful and challenging approaches to products and services (e.g. Tinkering, Geocaching)
- Creatively overcoming technical limitations or undermining technologies (e.g. Hacking)
- Transgressing boundaries and taking risks (e.g. Train surfing).
Contributions on other playful approaches to technology are also welcome.

Please send your proposal (abstract of 300 words and one-page CV) to Stefan Poser and Artemis Yagou until 13 January 2019. Thank you.

Dr. Stefan Poser, Helmut-Schmidt University, Hamburg, poser@hsu-hh.de
Dr. Artemis Yagou, Deutsches Museum, Munich, a.yagou@deutsches-museum.de

Website of the 46th Symposium of ICOHTEC: http://katowice2019.icohtec.org/