I am a geek and my posts are techno-musings about nothings. There is no discernable structure or prose in my blogs. Just ramblings by a lunatic with a thought, some space and a keyboard.
Technology is in an interesting place in history right now. We have more mediums than ever to connect to each other – in the order of complexity – Letters, Telegraph, Phone, Mobile Phone, Texting, E-mail, Discussion board, YouTube, Chatting Social Networking, Twitting, Blogging – the list is growing. I knew a lot of people in the London residency – at least by face – through Facebook even before I landed in London. And it is interesting to think about why is this happening – is it technology driven or driven by the need for human connection? We make posts to facebook and twitter with the expectation to get a response. Some simian instinct at play here that I wish I could learn more about.
Which brings me to something that I came across recently which I found fascinating – Google Wave. This is a fascinating marriage of social networking, document sharing (like google docs) and chatting. This could be the future in collaboration – imagine working on a presentation, chatting with your team mates, and finalizing things – all under one roof; could be a leap in productivity. It also maintains the versioning of documents in an interesting way – playing back so that you know what went on. Its not technologically radical but its packaged in a way that makes it quite innovative.
Here’s a quick video on what Google Wave is all about.
Here’s another from the developers with a live demonstration.
Google Wave is still in Beta (in Google terms this could mean even 5 years of Beta like for GMail) but request for your invitation – you might just get an invitation to try it out.
(Myth) Skype has limits of not more than 5 for conferencing.
(Reality) There is no limit – at least none I could find. Conference with as many as you want to.
Twitter: dukefuqua2010
Randy Zwitch // Oct 14, 2009 at 8:57 am
Welcome Shailesh!
I agree, it is certainly an interesting time for communication. Having seen dial-up internet get overtaken by high-speed, bulletin boards and newsgroups make way for messageboards, blogs, and social networks, it makes me wonder what the future holds for communication.
In some ways, we’re all linked together by technology, but at the same time I feel it somewhat hampers in-person relationships. People think nothing of texting at the last minute to say they aren’t going to make it to planned events, or pick up their cell phone for a meaningless conversation at the detriment of the person they are sitting across from.
So it will be interesting to see what the next decade holds. Perhaps culture will adapt to all of these new forms of communication…or maybe we’ll see a movement of “no e-communication-ism”!
Shailesh Nair // Oct 14, 2009 at 9:10 am
I agree about the loss of the human touch. This is especially pronounced in Japan – if you are in a train you would notice that people do not talk or interact with each other at all with each other; they are staring right into their mobile phones and texting to each other. Or looking at their PSPs and gaming with each other.
I always wondered what aliens would wonder about the quirks of the human society.