I agree with you and Callon as you quote him: an account book is part of
reality, my computer is part of reality, and my faithful mailing software
is part of reality -- just as that sturdy fork and tasty lasagna I cooked
up for using in my examples. I think we agree, too, that reality is not
just what we can eat, and not just what makes a noise when we drop it on
the floor (like the fork would -- while I cannot imagine how the mailing
software could do something in that style).
My half-baked efforts at public "theory cooking" come on the one hand from
taking Yrjo Engestroms Activity Theory class while I was in San Diego last
quarter, and especially from my attempts to understand how the triangular
activity systems model can accommodate the demands of the American
situation with its issues of diversity and multivoicedness. It was, to me,
very interesting to read that selection of "classical" AT in the context of
Californian late nineties, and to co-participate in this cultural clash.
This is where we had many discussions about how "things" are not nailed
fast to ONE particular node in the system, when it comes to the analysis of
concrete situations.
Now, I seem to be once more too impatient, too much in a hurry, to really
get into the particulars of human-computer interaction.
Regards
Eva