‘I am he. I am he. Siri rules’: Work and play with the Apple Watch

Abstract

In this article, we will use autoethnographic accounts of our use of the Apple Watch to analyse a new type of ludic labour that has emerged in recent years, in which leisure activities are redefined in terms of work and quantifiable data. Wearable devices like the Apple Watch encourage us to share data about ourselves and our activities, dividing our attention in everyday contexts as ‘quasi-objects’ that need our input to hybridise work and play, offering opportunities to merge leisure and labour, and also the possibility for resistant practices in the interstices between function and failure. We combine perspectives from Science and Technology studies, media studies and play studies, including the ‘quantified self’ and the ‘Internet of Things’, to argue that while the Apple Watch moves us closer to merging with the machine, its inability to provide what it promises offers a way out – a more positive understanding of intimate, wearable computing technology.