Adventures in the Not Quite Yet

Abstract Technologists promise a future in which pervasive, distributed networks enable radical change to social and political geographies. Design of these abstract, intangible futures is difficult and carries a special risk of excluding people who are not equipped,to appreciate the ramifications of these technological changes. The Democratising Technology (DemTech) project has been exploring how techniques from performance,and live art can be used to help people engage with the potential of ubiquitousdigital networks; in particular, how these techniques can be used to enfranchise people with little technical knowledge, but who nonetheless will have to live with the design consequences of technical decisions. This paper describes the iterative development,of a performance workshop for use by designers and community,workers. These workshops,employ,a series of simple exercises to emulate possible processes of technologicalappropriation: turning abstract digital networks into imaginable, meaningful webs. They were specifically designed to target a technologically excluded group, older people, but can also be used with other groups. We describe the