ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of ‘technical media’ to address the question of why and how media technologies require special treatment in both media and technology research in terms of the traces they leave in representation – with considerable implications for the user experience. It addresses the question as to why the sensorial effects created by technical media would typically be accompanied by a distinct experiential dimension and why this would help create the famous cyclical effects in the history of media use. Medium unawareness is a predictable and almost inevitable effect of habituation. Habituation and routine use as dominant modes of media consumption are the result of a “ready to use” consumption habit, whereas the exposure to ever-new media invites de-habituation and a re-sensitization to media use much appreciated by media researchers. Building replicas, taking precious devices from their glass cases, and experimenting with originals will help to dehabituate media historians from their fixation on media newness and authenticity.
