From the class discussion, the issues were private property VS. personal property, and how people show ownership. Such as using "My" and "I need" Difference between private and personal property is that there is intimacy issue to it. Miller stated that ," personal property, which assumes a genuinely self-productive relationship between persons and objects'private property would than become not home ownership but the ownership of somebody else's home.".
As an example of artifact which shows both private and personal property would be an iPod. It isn't a necessity to living, yet many people get it. We live in a high tech society; people are influenced easily by surroundings. And that one believes it is comfortable, high maintenance and has a desire to buy the iPod. iPod can be just personal property in a way how Miller's quote says self-productive relationship between person and objects. However, one who has self-productive relationship with an object can have an attachment to an object. .
The product iPod is mass produced, and manufactured in a same way as the other iPods. But the moment someone programs, and stores the songs in iPod, it becomes personal property, and as the user is influenced by the surrounding, and the moment that user customizes the iPod it becomes private property. .
To simplify the topic of artifacts, self, and society can begin from anything. Why does person wear certain things? Why did the designer design this? I think the influences of the society controls the self relationship with objects, and Miller's idea of private, personal property is the representation of one self integrating with larger social group, and I think every topic from the Miller's text ties in together one way or another. .