Digital technology has come a long way. From the mathematical chores of the science lab to accounting and word processing on the desks of innumerous offices. To image processing, home video editing, and internet surfing on just as many kitchen tables. And telecommunications on the move - in our hands and in our pockets. The activities, desires, and values we associate with our bodies are quite different from those of the office or the science lab.

Humans are, and have always been "the decorated monkey". We are the only species on earth that modifies its own appearance. We dress our bodies in paint, scars, tattoos, or pinstripe business suits, and cut and colour our hair in different ways. People seem happy to surrender some practical functionality for expressive purposes.

As the peacock tail and its human equivalent show. Practical difficulty, resistances, ordeals and weights often bear an expressive, communicative potential. If technology were to be truly personal shouldn’t it leave room also for these kinds of strategies?