Elmer, GregNeville, Stephen James2019-12-042019-12-042019-062019-12-04http://hdl.handle.net/10315/36841This thesis develops a case study analysis of the Amazon Echo, the first-ever voice-activated smart speaker. The domestication of the devices feminine conversational agent, Alexa, and the integration of its microphone and digital sensor technology in home environments represents a moment of radical change in the domestic sphere. This development is interpreted according to two primary force relations: historical gender patterns of domestic servitude and eavesmining (eavesdropping + datamining) processes of knowledge extraction and analysis. The thesis is framed around three pillars of study that together demonstrate: how routinization with voice-activated technology affects acoustic space and ones experiences of home; how online warm experts initiate a dialogue about the domestication of technology that disregards and ignores Amazons corporate privacy framework; and finally, how the technologys conditions of use silently result in the deployment of ever-intensifying surveillance mechanisms in home environments. Eavesmining processes are beginning to construct a new world of media and surveillance where every spoken word can potentially be heard and recorded, and speaking is inseparable from identification.Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.Social researchElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2019-12-04Amazon EchoAlexavoice-activated personal assistant (VAPA)smart speakerYouTubeunboxing technologydomestication of new technologywarm expertsurveillanceprivacymedia ecologyfeminist media studies