Monitored Mobility in the Era of Mass Customization

In: Space and Culture, Band 6, Heft 2, S. 132-150

Abstract

Just as Web browsers use information about surfing habits to customize content and advertising, so the development of mobile commerce (m-commerce) promises to capitalize on the real-time monitoring of the time-space paths followed by consumers. Thanks to the development of wireless, networked devices, gathering detailed information about consumer mobility is becoming increasingly cheap and efficient. The result is that spaces associated with leisure and domesticity can become increasingly economically productive insofar as consumers are subjected to comprehensive monitoring in exchange for the promise of customization and individuation. Drawing on examples from e-commerce and popular culture, this article explores the connection between the consumption of space and the incitement to mobility, arguing that the mass customized economy represents a continuation of the logic of market rationalization in the network era.