Brainwaves of Sken

“One of the things our grandchildren will find quaintest about us is that we distinguish the digital from the real, the virtual from the real. In the future, that will become literally impossible. The distinction between cyberspace and that which isn’t cyberspace is going to be unimaginable.

When I wrote Neuromancer in 1984, cyberspace already existed for some people, but they didn’t spend all their time there. So cyberspace was there, and we were here. Now cyberspace is here for a lot of us, and there has become any state of relative nonconnectivity. There is where they don’t have Wi-Fi.

In a world of superubiquitous computing, you’re not gonna know when you’re on or when you’re off. You’re always going to be on, in some sort of blended-reality state. You only think about it when something goes wrong and it goes off. And then it’s a drag.

I read something the other day about how people “addicted to the internet or cell phones” became irritated or angry when you take it away from them, and I remember thinking, “Uhm, would you be irritated if I took away your voice?”

I live in a world of ubiquitous computing. With the unlimited text messages of my cell, I use it to: send photos of what is happening right this second to my girlfriend and other friends; leave voicemail-style blog posts when I don’t have access to a computer; google a definition; map out directions; call someone; send a direct message with SMS or IM to someone.

These are things that I can do without, but why would I, why should I? It’s like being able share something with any (or all) of the people you know, at any time, without actually having to entertain or feed them. When I forget my phone at home, I feel isolated, because I am isolated, relatively speaking.

If I want to be alone, I don’t have to answer my phone or IM. But I have that option, and I don’t have to use up an entire day (or even an entire half-hour) when all I want is a moment.

I’ve known some people to delete their LiveJournals or remove their IM clients in a fit of pique because their only communication with people were in those mediums. It is my opinion that these are choices we make, and if you are missing someone’s touch or you miss the way they gesture, you need to say, “come over. come visit me.”

It is not reasonable to apply the priorities of 1980 on the world of 2007 – generational differences in communication are important, and just because a 50-year old who only connects to the internet when they have a purpose doesn’t think it is important to have that connection at your fingertips doesn’t mean a 17-year-old who knows exactly where all her friends are going after school (and how to reach them) is in the midst of frivolity.

Some people can not mix their communication mediums well. And some people prefer one medium to another, just like some people keep their friends intimate and some prefer arm’s length. But other people are comfortable with any medium, finding the ideal uses for twitter, IM, LJ, Facebook, cellphone, e-mail, and IRC, all at once.

These are the people who will pick up the next generation of communication. Always-on, location-enabled ultra-portable computing and messaging. And for those people who can get the hang of it, they’ll wonder how they lived without it.

~ by Skennedy on April 8, 2008.

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