On Becoming More Human
A few weeks ago, I was speaking to a group of PR account executives when one woman asked a question that she really didn’t mean to ask. In phrasing her question, seeking my opinion on the proliferation of mobile devices, she asked in effect if computers were going to take over our lives. I get that question a lot, in one form or another, but on this day her question struck me quite differently.
We are at the very earliest days of a new age of computing, I responded, and age that in the past I have called “device computing.” I’ve never really liked the term device computing, but just as past generations of technology have been known for the size of the computer – mainframe, mini, PC – it seemed logical to name this new period for the myriad of devices in which computing and communications technology are embedded. In this new era of computing, technology will wend its way into all aspects of our lives, and in time, it will be virtually invisible.
But, I continued, addressing the unintended question in the account exec’s question, we have to ask whether all this computing technology will make us more – or less – human.
The Rise of the Blog Nation
If you dismiss blogging as the blatherings of the Internet elite, you will miss the most significant transformation in communications since the arrival of the Web. Web logs will fundamentally change the face of publishing, corporate communications, workgroup collaboration, and more. The stage is set, and over the next 12 months, blogging will emerge from its humble beginnings as an online journal to a primary new channel of information.
These word introduced an hour-long segment of DEMO 2004, discussing the emerging power of Web logs and exploring new applications that empower and leverage this new medium. Believing one must put one's actions to work, I author several blogs, each focused on a different interest or area.
