Stephen Monteiro
@stephenmonteiro.bsky.social
Communication Studies faculty @ Concordia University, Montreal | Latest book - Needy Media: How Tech Gets Personal (MQUP, 2025)
stephenmonteiro.org
stephenmonteiro.org
Pinned
Surveying products and practices across a half century, in Needy Media Stephen Monteiro argues that the appeal of portable, networked personal media devices lies as much in how they behave as it does in the information they convey.
Out now! buff.ly/J6uiBc4
Out now! buff.ly/J6uiBc4
It’s here! Look for it at your local bookshop or library. Or get the ebook online.
Yes! I’ve been advocating for default off settings as the smallest/easiest step tech giants could take.
“1. Ban Addictive and Manipulative Design - Features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and nudging loops should be off by default”
“1. Ban Addictive and Manipulative Design - Features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and nudging loops should be off by default”
An emerging global consensus says online harms are the predictable outcomes of platforms designed for attention, engagement, and data extraction, writes Lena Slachmuijlder, author of a new guide to “Prosocial Tech Design Regulation.”
How to Rethink Regulation with Prosocial Design | TechPolicy.Press
An emerging global consensus says online harms are the outcomes of platforms designed for attention, engagement, and data extraction, writes Lena Slachmuijlder.
www.techpolicy.press
November 21, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Yes! I’ve been advocating for default off settings as the smallest/easiest step tech giants could take.
“1. Ban Addictive and Manipulative Design - Features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and nudging loops should be off by default”
“1. Ban Addictive and Manipulative Design - Features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and nudging loops should be off by default”
After years of digging through PDFs of back issues…
Behold: you can now see all 23 years of BYTE magazine in all its glory, all at once. Every issue on a single zoomable interface
www.404media.co/byte-magazin...
www.404media.co/byte-magazin...
Visualize All 23 Years of BYTE Magazine in All Its Glory, All at Once
Software engineer Hector Dearman built a zoomable map of every issue of BYTE magazine.
www.404media.co
November 11, 2025 at 6:08 PM
After years of digging through PDFs of back issues…
Had a great conversation a few days back about device dependency and Needy Media with David Cooper on @lastshow.bsky.social. @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
Dr. Stephen Monteiro: Your Smartphones Manipulates You - October 29, 2025
Podcast Episode · The Last Show with David Cooper · 10/30/2025 · 11m
podcasts.apple.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Had a great conversation a few days back about device dependency and Needy Media with David Cooper on @lastshow.bsky.social. @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
“Investors turning down acquisition bids in pursuit of bigger offers is another sign that we’re in – or at least headed for – an AI bubble.”
CoreWeave's failed buy of Core Scientific is another sign of an AI bubble. But it's still shopping.
AI mania tanks CoreWeave’s Core Scientific acquisition; it buys Python notebook Marimo | TechCrunch
CoreWeave's failed buy of Core Scientific is another sign of an AI bubble. But it's still shopping.
techcrunch.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:40 PM
“Investors turning down acquisition bids in pursuit of bigger offers is another sign that we’re in – or at least headed for – an AI bubble.”
The idea that automation would produce a 3-4 day workweek was the rage in the first decade or so of digital computing. How’d that turn out?
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan says that, in a few years, we should be working a 3-4 day workweek because of AI.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan says AI will shorten our workweek | TechCrunch
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan says that, in a few years, we should be working a 3-4 day workweek because of AI.
techcrunch.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:19 AM
The idea that automation would produce a 3-4 day workweek was the rage in the first decade or so of digital computing. How’d that turn out?
What’s the link between Tamagotchi and the phone you’re reading this on? See my essay in @thewalrus.ca, adapted from my book, Needy Media @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
How Tamagotchi Trained Millennials for the Era of Needy Devices | The Walrus
Digital pets changed the rules of how we treat tech, paving the way for attention-hungry smartphones
thewalrus.ca
October 22, 2025 at 10:52 PM
What’s the link between Tamagotchi and the phone you’re reading this on? See my essay in @thewalrus.ca, adapted from my book, Needy Media @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
As an advocate for local media, it’s been wonderful appearing on local radio shows nationwide this week to talk about Needy Media @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social. Thank you CHED Edmonton, CHQR Calgary, CKGL Kitchener, CFUV Victoria, and CHLY Nanalmo for listening!
October 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
As an advocate for local media, it’s been wonderful appearing on local radio shows nationwide this week to talk about Needy Media @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social. Thank you CHED Edmonton, CHQR Calgary, CKGL Kitchener, CFUV Victoria, and CHLY Nanalmo for listening!
Interested in how iPod personalization practices - the engravings, the tattoos, the skins - helped set the stage for today’s device intimacy? Check out the Toronto Star’s excerpt from Needy Media, my new @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social book.
www.thestar.com/news/insight...
www.thestar.com/news/insight...
Our iPods, ourselves: a new book explores how we came to adore our devices
We took them everywhere and even engraved them. Then all of a sudden they had skins. As one theorist notes, the skins' arrival “explicitly connects the iPod to flesh, to
www.thestar.com
October 6, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Interested in how iPod personalization practices - the engravings, the tattoos, the skins - helped set the stage for today’s device intimacy? Check out the Toronto Star’s excerpt from Needy Media, my new @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social book.
www.thestar.com/news/insight...
www.thestar.com/news/insight...
“But unresolved issues around the device’s ‘personality,’ how it handles privacy, and computing infrastructure might delay the launch.”
Probably not.
Probably not.
OpenAI and Jony Ive reportedly face significant technical challenges as they work to develop a screen-less, AI-powered device.
OpenAI and Jony Ive may be struggling to figure out their AI device | TechCrunch
OpenAI and Jony Ive reportedly face significant technical challenges as they work to develop a screen-less, AI-powered device.
techcrunch.com
October 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
“But unresolved issues around the device’s ‘personality,’ how it handles privacy, and computing infrastructure might delay the launch.”
Probably not.
Probably not.
Proud to be among this group.
September 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Proud to be among this group.
It’s here! Look for it at your local bookshop or library. Or get the ebook online.
Surveying products and practices across a half century, in Needy Media Stephen Monteiro argues that the appeal of portable, networked personal media devices lies as much in how they behave as it does in the information they convey.
Out now! buff.ly/J6uiBc4
Out now! buff.ly/J6uiBc4
September 18, 2025 at 11:39 PM
It’s here! Look for it at your local bookshop or library. Or get the ebook online.
Great historical research here - we should be wary of privacy concerns even with our less sophisticated personal media.
"The tension between surveillance and self-improvement, between control and liberation, is a recurring theme in the history of wearable technology."
Surveillance and the Secret History of 19th-Century Wearable Tech
From jealous spouses to paranoid bosses, 19th-century pedometers quantified suspicion and reshaped the dynamics of surveillance.
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
September 15, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Great historical research here - we should be wary of privacy concerns even with our less sophisticated personal media.
In case you missed it, here’s my Needy Media conversation with CBC’s David Common on smart device intimacy, its historical roots, and its role in data extraction.
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2025. All rights reserved.
www.cbc.ca
September 3, 2025 at 3:27 PM
In case you missed it, here’s my Needy Media conversation with CBC’s David Common on smart device intimacy, its historical roots, and its role in data extraction.
How did our smart devices get so needy? Listen to my discussion on CBC’s The Sunday Magazine this weekend. And for a deeper dive, check out my book, Needy Media, out Sept. 16 from @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
How did our smart devices get so needy? Listen to my discussion on CBC’s The Sunday Magazine this weekend. And for a deeper dive, check out my book, Needy Media, out Sept. 16 from @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
Just days until publication, Needy Media makes @quillandquire.bsky.social Fall nonfiction list. Too cool. @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
Needy Media | McGill-Queen’s University Press
McGill-Queen’s University Press
www.mqup.ca
August 8, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Just days until publication, Needy Media makes @quillandquire.bsky.social Fall nonfiction list. Too cool. @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social
New book out this fall - Needy Media: How Tech Gets Personal (@mcgillqueensup.bsky.social) - explores how sensory cues drive tech intimacy & data exploitation.
www.mqup.ca/needy-media-...
www.mqup.ca/needy-media-...
Needy Media | McGill-Queen’s University Press
McGill-Queen’s University Press
www.mqup.ca
June 26, 2025 at 7:33 PM
New book out this fall - Needy Media: How Tech Gets Personal (@mcgillqueensup.bsky.social) - explores how sensory cues drive tech intimacy & data exploitation.
www.mqup.ca/needy-media-...
www.mqup.ca/needy-media-...
Looking forward to sharing “The Wellness Game: Digital Toys, Biometrics, and Networked Self-Care” (Think Tamagotchi+Fitbit=Us?) today @ 3:30 on the Care, Connection, and Autonomy panel of CCA. #congressh
June 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Looking forward to sharing “The Wellness Game: Digital Toys, Biometrics, and Networked Self-Care” (Think Tamagotchi+Fitbit=Us?) today @ 3:30 on the Care, Connection, and Autonomy panel of CCA. #congressh
Just heard a great panel - Tech and Power: Global Political Economic Perspectives - at Congress/CCA #congressh
June 2, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Just heard a great panel - Tech and Power: Global Political Economic Perspectives - at Congress/CCA #congressh
Excited to see—and pleased to share—that The Fabric of Interface (my earlier book on mobile interactivity and craft culture) is now out in paperback. Thanks @mitpress.bsky.social !
May 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Excited to see—and pleased to share—that The Fabric of Interface (my earlier book on mobile interactivity and craft culture) is now out in paperback. Thanks @mitpress.bsky.social !