Reconfiguring Mobile Media Assemblages: Download Cultures and Translocal Flows of Affective Platforms

Memory cards are flash memory devices that enable storage and circulation of music in audio and video formats. In some regions in Asia, the bandwidth to stream musical content is unavailable, and people go to ‘download vendors’, who add content to their memory cards. We investigate regional standards/formats that allow Chinese DVD players to be sold in India and North Korea that can play not only VCDs/DVDs but also memory cards. Contemporary platform discourse disproportionately studies algorithm and-interface-based online platforms that support streaming cultures. We explore offline digital platforms that enable download cultures by considering memory cards as medial objects that are attached to various platform ecosystems. Such ecosystems based on informal business models and network logic act as both intermediaries and foundations that provide users with opportunities to share and participate. Going beyond instrumental uses of platforms, we discern their affectivity: their ability to provide pleasurable entertainment and aesthetic experiences