http://www.egs.edu/faculty/zizek/zizek-the-inte...

Interpassivity

Against this background, one is tempted to supplement the fashionable notion of “interactivity,” with its shadowy and much more uncanny supplement/double, the notion of “interpassivity.” That is to say, it is commonplace to emphasize how, with new electronic media, the passive consumption of a text or a work of art is over: I no longer merely stare at the screen, I increasingly interact with it, entering into a dialogic relationship with it (from choosing the programs, through participating in debates in a Virtual Community, to directly determining the outcome of the plot in so-called “interactive narratives”). Those who praise the democratic potential of new media, generally focus on precisely these features: on how cyberspace opens up the possibility for the large majority of people to break out of the role of the passive observer following the spectacle staged by others, and to participate actively not only in the spectacle, but more and more in establishing the very rules of the spectacle… Is, however, the other side of this interactivity not interpassivity? Is the necessary obverse of my interacting with the object instead of just passively following the show, not the situation in which the object itself takes from me, deprives me of, my own passive reaction of satisfaction (or mourning or laughter), so that is is the object itself which “enjoys the show” instead of me, relieving me of the superego duty to enjoy myself… Do we not witness “interpassivity” in a great number of today's publicity spots or posters which, as it were, passively enjoy the product instead of us ? (Coke cans containing the inscription “Ooh!Ooh! What taste!”, emulate in advance the ideal customer's reaction.) Another strange phenomenon brings us closer to the heart of the matter: almost every VCR aficionado who compulsively records hundreds of movies (myself among them), is well aware that the immediate effect of owning a VCR, is that one effectively watches less films than in the good old days of a simple TV set without a VCR; one never has time for TV, so, instead of losing a precious evening, one simply tapes the film and stores it for a future viewing (for which, of course, there is almost never time…). So, although I do not actually watch films, the very awareness that the films I love are stored in my video library gives me a profound satisfaction and, occasionally, enables me to simply relax and indulge in the exquisite art of far'niente — as if the VCR is in a way watching them for me, in my place… VCR stands here for the “big Other,” for the medium of symbolic registration.

To use a cell camera more or less also has to do a bit with our society culture.
Lets not forget that when cells with cameras started to appear, the japanese market was more targeted than other ones.
With globalization, the differences between countries and thus cultures, tends to fade.
With the advent of flexible screens we'll be watching videos on t-shirts, cereal boxes and so on.
Heck ! One may even upload a video from the cell to the t-shirt

Kind regards,

José

I never use my cel camera, by the way. I love the photo for its context and its… absurdity, really.