We could think about the clothing buttons that keep our clothes attached to us.īut pushing a button really did come about in the 19th century, around the time of industrialization and electrification, as people began to think about, what’s the most efficient and satisfying way to carry out an act with electricity. RACHEL PLOTNICK: You know, it’s a funny question because we could think of buttons in many different ways. JOHN DANKOKSY: Did buttons really come about when we first started electrifying everything? Is that really when buttons took hold? And as I looked around the world, I saw, wow, there are buttons everywhere to do everything and interact with every form of technology, communication, play, work, and I just began to wonder, how did we become this society that is so essentially transfixed with pushing buttons. And the more I began looking at remote controls, the more I realized that the buttons on the remotes were really interesting. I was really interested in questions of remote control and who gets to hold the television remote, all of the power dynamics around that. RACHEL PLOTNICK: You know, I sort of stumbled across it, as many I think academics do, find their way to these strange topics. Or tweet us Why did you get interested in buttons?
JOHN DANKOKSY: And if you’ve got a pressing button question, how they work or why we need them or a story about a button mishap, you can call us at 84. RACHEL PLOTNICK: Thanks so much for having me. Rachel Plotnick is an assistant professor of cinema and media studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, and she’s the author of the book, Power Button, A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing. Why do we have all these feelings about buttons? Where do they come from in the first place, and what do they tell us about our relationship with technology? My next guest is here to talk with us about this. What about the big red doomsday button? And today, we click and we swipe with a new kind of button. You’ve heard the phrase, “pushing my buttons” or hot button issues. I’m talking about the humble button, that tiny piece of tech that you use to interact with almost everything.īut a button is not just a button. You use it to turn on the lights, to communicate with co-workers, even order a meal. We’re going to talk about a piece of technology now that you might overlook, but it’s everywhere. I’m John Dankosky sitting in for Ira Flatow. they often had cups with poker hands on them for some odd reason of supply of paper cups… anyway… they had a good chunky click. I strangely remember those old coffee machines that dropped the cup and dispensed coffee and you had choices of cream sugar double sugar etc…. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized that my normally competitive grandfather always let me win those races. My Grandpa and I used to race to see who could push the button first. My Grandparents lived on the 18th floor of a building with these elevator buttons. It occurs to me now I’m not sure I ever got to scratch that itch! /fKGfsw40VY I used to find it hard as a kid to not reach over the desk and push those blinking line transfer buttons on the bottom. On these old office phones you’d see in doctor’s offices etc. Seemed like science fiction to me in the early 60’s. My grandfather’s Chrysler transmission buttons. Bakelite buttons with the on button inlaid with mother of pearl. Push button light switches from my grandma’s house. I remember the sound from this remote and mashing the buttons down from my parents cabinetlike TV. Is there an iconic button you remember as a kid? What made it special? We’ll be talking about button technology on this week. We asked you on Twitter what your favorite buttons were to push as a kid. In her book, Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing, Rachel Plotnick says “buttons continue to crystallize enduring societal hopes and fears about ‘easy’ technological solutions to all manner of problems.” Plotnick discuss the development of buttons and what they reveal about our interactions with technology. Buttons were used as a form of one-way communication in wealthy households and would later be developed for consumers to interact with vending machines, cameras and other tools.īut buttons also are often associated with feelings of control, panic, and fear. In the late 19th century, buttons were being developed as a way to interact with electrification that was coming into homes and workspaces. It allows us to interact with our computers and technology, alerts us when someone is at the front door, and with a tap, can have dinner delivered to your home.
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