panopticon by cell phone

this article on boing boing talks about using phonecams on some of the new cell phones could be a great tool in journalism and, what got me thinking, in documenting 'wrongdoing'. i think that's a very interesting thought...i mean, if everyone had one of these things, i think it would be much more difficult for 'wrongdoers' to 'wrongdo'. that's an intersting, word, wrongdo.....

well back to the point. the 'all seeing eye' is pretty much the basis of the panopticon....making everyone think they are being watched...always. i still have to read foucalt a little better but i was having an argument with drew about some of the specifics. mainly, he thought that the 'all seeing eye' had to be one, solitary, higher power, or at least a 'government' of sorts but one which was not subject to the panopticon. that was the original basis of the prison style panopticon, i'm sure, but i'm almost certain that foucault pushed it further expressing that all you need is for people to feel watched. he even suggested that the prison tower in the middle be open to the public so that the inmates would never know exactly 'who' was watching....and they could be wackin' off in front of a preist or a twelve year old or something.

so back to the cell phones....how many court cases do we hear about some lawyer hacking away at a witness and therefore putting a rapist or a j-walker back on the streets? what if every witness had pictures to show exactly what he/she saw? i think that would dramatically increase the certainty of many of their testimonies, expediate convictions, and get these shits of the street; thereby teaching all other would-be-asses that "someone is watching" and maybe they'll think twice about taking that snickers bar from a little blonde girl with pig tails.

yeah i still hate cell phones....but i like pictures....hmmm....

snickers