Does Communication Everywhere Improve Communication?

Techie conference goers might notice the phenomenon that some veteran speakers have been talking about. There’s questions around whether conferences should permit WiFi access within the actual speaker presentations raised by Jeff Veen, Doug Bowman, and Eric Meyer.

I’ve noticed the effects they’re talking about and certainly found myself distracted at times to the point where I completely missed chunks of presentations. As much we think we are multitaskers, there’s a limit to what we can process. Given that, I think it’s worth looking at the problem in a wider context than just conferences. How has technology’s enabling of communication anywhere and everywhere affected us in the context of traditional activities? How do they interplay with each other?

Let’s take a look at some typical examples of instances where a potential conflict in space and presence exists.

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