An interesting "discovery" of mobile technology from Technology Review:
Constant connectivity has changed what it means to participate in a conference or any other gathering. Using chat rooms, blogs, wikis,
Wikis: Web pages that allow users to add content or edit existing content.
photo-sharing
sites, and other technologies, people at real-world meetings can now
tap into an electronic swirl of commentary and interpretation by other
participants–the "back channel" mentioned by Campbell. There are
trade-offs: this new information stream can indeed draw attention away
from the here and now. But many people seem willing to make them,
pleased by the productivity they gain in circumstances where they’d
otherwise be cut off from their offices or homes. There is meaning in
all of this. After a decade of hype about "mobility," personal
computing has finally and irreversibly cut its bonds to the desktop and
has moved into devices we can carry everywhere. We’re using this newly
portable computing power to connect with others in ways no one
predicted–and we won’t be easily parted from our new tools.
