Thing vs. Device

Albert Borgmann talks alot about the Device Paradigm, which involves the distinction between a thing and a device. Modern technology has developed what is known as a device, which Borgmann believes this technology has nothing to do with our traditional focal activities. It is this aspect that distinguishes modern technology from pre-modern technology, which focuses on the use of things. Things involve more human participation and have more than one commodity.

Borgmann uses the example of a well vs. a spigot where the well is a thing and the spigot is a device. The well not only provides us with water, but it requires a human interaction: a web of relationships, which are not present in the use of devices. The spigot provides the same commodity of water; however, the actual means of getting the water is not clear to everyone and it only requires that one person get the water. The web of relationships has disappeared with technology, which Borgmann believes could end up doing more harm in the future. We are losing our true sense of values and culture as our lives become more leisurely and less social. With devices we also lose a sense of a particular place as water can be obtained anywhere now, whereas years ago a well was only found in specific places. Once again this loss of a special place emphasis the diminishing web of relations and focal practices.

Though the devices of modern technology may provide us with the same ends as things of the pre-modern technological times, we are becoming more and more distant from each other as a society. I do not believe that Borgmann is just obsessed with some sense of nostalgia; however, I do agreee with him when it comes to the fact that we no longer have that certain web of relations. Sure things are easier now, but we need to find a way, as Borgmann explains, to incorporate this convenience (the use of devices) with our focal practices.