Two thoughts -

1) We prefer face-to-face because of the “human moment”. The brain gets stimulated when we are in the physical presence of others. The human moment is a powerful thing. When technology mediates connections, the fidelity of the human moment decreases. Or does it? Haven’t we all experienced an emotional/physical reaction when reading a passage from a book? So if we paid enough attention when writing, if we had the skill to communicate through metaphor and language the way great writers do, would we start to prefer text in certain contexts? Just a thought.

2) (A)synchronous technology – Google has just come out with a new tool called GoogleWave. The design starts with the premise — what if invented a communications/collaboration tool knowing what exists today (email, SMS, IM, etc, etc.)? GoogleWave is their answer to that question. It is brilliant. Imagine synchronous email. Imagine a replay button that allows you see the path of the conversation. You can keep a record of your conversation AND be synchronous if you choose. You can jointly edit an document. With gadgets and widgets you can insert rich interactive media in a Wave. You can play games in a wave. Or do simultaneous translations. You can record & playback the results. (For the record, I do not work for Google, I’m just a fan of cool tools.) Just another thought.

Look forward to the conversation this blog creates.