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46 Consuming Media

the first phase in the consumption process, two dimensions stand out as important –
time and space. As is clear from the examples above, the time it takes to make a selec-
tion can be long or short. Home can be a prominent place in the selection, while in
other cases it plays no part at all.
The purchase can also be carried out in several ways. It may be extended over a long
period of time, for example by instalments through a bank account. The purchase
can also be made in the shop, directly using cash, credit card or a cheque. Here too,
time and space vary.
Use also varies according to the nature of the product, and includes the wear and
tear as well as maintenance and care of the product. A television set is often used
almost daily for many years and may require some repairs. A book is usually only read
once during a few hours (it can also be read again and again), and though it still
happens that people have their books bound and mended, such practices are unusual
today. Television programs are ordinarily used when broadcast, but with the help of
additional media machines (VCR or DVD) it is possible to record and save programs
and perhaps watch them repeatedly. One uses one’s own set at home, while a book can
be enjoyed on the train, during a break at work or on a bench in a shopping centre.
The disposal of a product may have different purposes, take place in different loca-
tions and require different amounts of time. There are four main types of disposal:
throwing away or discarding the product, giving it away, trading or exchanging it for
another product, or reselling it. The character of these different acts of disposal varies
widely, according to the type of product. (1) For example, both a television set and a
book may be discarded, but whereas the destruction of the television might demand
more time since it is a technical device with many parts that have to be taken care of
in different ways, the paperback can be left in the paper collection for recycling.
Television programmes on the other hand are normally ‘consumed’ as they are
watched. (2) Both books and television sets, but more rarely television programmes
(if stored on video cassettes), can be given away as gifts. (3) Books can also be
exchanged, for example in a book circle, but this is rarer for television sets. (4) This
last variant is very close to reselling the product. Then the consumer turns into a
distributor/seller, for example, when selling a used book to a second-hand bookshop.
The consumption process, initiated by a selection, centred on the purchase and
use, ending with some kind of disposal, also involves an extended encounter between
a person/consumer and an object/product. Moving through the four phases, both
consumer and product are at the same time transformed. During the selection and
purchase, the person is primarily a customer and the artefact is a market commodity.
Through the financial transaction the product changes hands, at the same time as the
payment in the form of a sum of money (corresponding to the exchange value of the
product) moves in the opposite direction from buyer to seller. When the product is
being used the consumer turns into a more or less satisfied owner and user of the
product, while the product changes into the article for everyday use that it was meant
to be. This use value may be of extremely different kinds, from the very material to
the highly symbolical or social.