http://www.ted.com/talks/renny_gleeson_on_antisocial_phone_tricks.html

Continuing on in the short and funny theme of TED Talk selections comes this under 4 minute talk by Renny Gleeson.

My take-away from his talk is his focus on the rise of a culture of availability brought about by the proliferation of our mobile devices, which then leads to an expectation of availability and ultimately to an obligation to that availability. If you've got a mobile device yourself, or live with anyone from  8 - 50+ who has one you've lived through the moments he brings up in his presentation. That time when during dinner, a movie, a walk, a conversation or more alarmingly behind the wheel where you or someone else responds to their mobile device. It once was called the BlackBerry prayer when you dipped down at a meeting or dinner to check the last email or text. I've seen it, I've done it, I've been seduced by the flashing light, the vibration or even recently the phantom vibration that makes me disconnect from what I'm doing to check my mobile device.

And when you're standing with someone, and you're on your mobile device, effectively what you're saying to them is, "You are not as important as, literally, almost anything that could come to me through this device."

So their is a paradox -  the devices we love to connect with cause us to disconnect. He ends his talk with a legitimate request:

And so that's the request I have for everybody in this room. We are creating the technology that is going to create the new shared experience, which will create the new world. And so my request is, please, let's make technologies that make people more human, and not less.

There's a lot of good points packed into 4 minutes. Great food for thought!

Have a totally, terrific Tuesday!

John