In-Forming the Iphone: Sequence and Frequency of Technological Transmutations as Reflected in the Collective Media

In the marketing and IT literature technology is studied in terms of how they change consumers: making their lives easier, more productive, more enjoyable – or otherwise. Rarely do these studies look at the other side of the human-technology interaction: how users change technologies. Moreover if consumers changed technologies in the past it was in the privacy of their own homes – now thanks to the internet this can be very public, and have major implications for other consumers and the producing company. In this paper we look at how consumers changed the iPhone – both in terms of its application and function. We apply Berthon et al.’s (2007) conceptual framework to trace the public transmutations of the iPhone – before and after its introduction to the market. Our source of data is YouTube, and specifically consumer generated videos. This paper is set out as follows. First we review the literatures on human-technology interaction and the rise of public usergenerated content. Second we outline our methodology to trace the sequence and frequency of consumer transmutations of the iPhone. Third we present our findings which suggest that the frequency of different types of transformation differ significantly before and after the product’s introduction. Finally we outline limitations and ideas for future research. Overall the paper contributes to both marketing and IS literatures by providing a case study on how users change technology in the public sphere.