Making Digital Work: A Recap

If the technogeeks could synchronize stoplights, and get HVAC systems at the office to work so they don't freeze the carbon life forms while keeping the computer/slave-stations cool, that would be better than coming up with more crap like twit-er...

Barry G, I'm guessing Edward was talking about people like you when he said "A generation must die."

You don't have to love everything (twitter, foursquare, etc) that comes out but you'd be a fool not to try it (in earnest) and understand it at a minimum.

Also, those legacy systems you're referring to (traffic lights, HVAC, etc) need to change too. There's no reason to keep trying to fit the answers of the future into the obsolete solutions of the past. Sometimes it's just better to tear it all down and start over.

Again, much thanks to all those who made this available online. Being able to take part and join in on the discussion with like-minded conversationalists over Twitter and Ustream was an experience true to the meaning of this event.

Well "the future", where's my flying car? I'm fine with new technology as long as it's useful and makes life better, more enjoyable, or easier, or all three. Twitter does nothing really useful that other tech didn't already do. Same with Facebook. We already have the web, e-mail, and such.

Regarding traffic signals and HVAC systems—yes they need to change for the better. And they're not going away while us talking monkeys still are incarnate and not some flurry of electrons in a system somewhere; we need good HVAC systems and synchronized traffic lights. Unless you happen to enjoy freezing your ass off in an office and unnecessarily waiting at a stoplight while there is no traffic going in the direction that has the green light.

Enjoy pushing your pixels instead of living in the real world!

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I'm sorry, but the fact that you equate twitter to email is exactly why you prob don't understand the latitude of how important it's become.

Twitter, Facebook, social media. It's all about being in the state of now. And it may be twitter now, it might not be in the future. It's where the consumers are and it's where brand reputations is sought after. To ignore it is a death sentence in this industry.

It's important because it allows users to live in the state- of-now. You aren't allowed to connect in real-time, with hundreds you don't already have contact information for with just email, or the broad blanket scope of the web. These platforms are a hub of connection and conversation, real brand engagement, real dialogue. Not just "hit send" and hope for a response. Using #hashtags and live search are just a few of the many ways global conversations take place around events, businesses and daily happenings unlike any other medium. Building strategy around social is a must. It's weaved into traditional and digital mediums.

To say it's not living in the real world just shows how uninvolved in it you really are. The explosion of mobile tech allows us to get out from behind our desks and still bring this technology with us, enhancing real world experiences. You can be involved and learn more by integrating social and mobile technology into life.

There is a conversation happening in these social platforms, and it's up to you to participate or not.

Have fun playing catch-up after and wishing you paid more attention to technology trends!

That's just the thing. These twitter/facebook/mobileapps memes/paradigms are about NOT being in the state of now. I can't tell you how many people I see on our campus up in the lovely hills above Silly Valley with their noses in their mobile device as they walk about here, missing all the trees, hawks, and other great things happening in the now. There is no awareness, no zen "being in the now". Just an obsession with "tweets" and mostly ephemeral "information".

This "need" to be connected with hundreds of people you don't really know is a sad statement about people not being able to be able to appreciate all the good things that most of us in advertising and design are able to afford to be around. I mean, it's not like a lot of us live in the ghetto and need to escape our surrounding reality, is it? Is "being in the state-of-now" a phrase that means something different now than it used to? Is staring at an LCD screen really in the state of now? Funny, I am more in the state of now when I'm on my motorcycle, playing music, or with a beautiful woman.

If you feel that is "uninvolved", feel free to enjoy your LCD. I'm sure it keeps you warm at night...

By the way, it's not that I think "social media" shouldn't exist, or that it has absolutely no value. It's just that I feel the intellectual might of our nation should be applied towards more important items at the moment. And synchronized traffic signals and efficient HVAC systems would fix a lot of things, not just the annoyance of being in traffic, or freezing in the office. A great deal of environmental good would result, and we would also reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources...

Being involved in emerging technologies doesn't mean we live our life behind a screen... I'm sorry, but your generalizing that which you don't understand.

I'm out and about all the time with my wife and daughter riding our bikes, enjoying the storms on my porch and playing kickball in a charity league. Shock and awe! People can be tech enthusiasts and still have lives!

Do you say you have to know every person you subscribe to in your RSS feed or in your hundreds or thousands of email contacts? Do you make the same comparisons there? You've never emailed someone you don't know? Saying it's some addiction to be "following", "friending" or simply connecting online is a gross misunderstanding of its true value.

I truly don't know a single person who feels the "need" to be connected to hundreds in social media. They may have hundreds of contacts, but they know how to filter the stream of information for what they want. Like knowing how to scan tv channels or filter spam in your email. When you ride your motorcycle do you look every person you drive by in the face or do you know how to filter your awareness on the road? Do you go to schmoozers and turn around once you see you don't know everyone in the room? I don't. But I'll I try to make conversation. To connect with those I find interesting. Same concept.

By leading an active role in social media, I've scored free convention tickets, free travel, free stock photography and royalty free music libraries, even free paint for my living room. It's not an escape of my surroundings. It's a complimentary addition it and my career.

I'm glad you can be in the now doing what you do. This is what I do. I know how to turn it all off and step from behind the lcd screen too. Just cause people don't take part in the same hobbies you do doesn't mean they don't know how to enjoy life. Frankly, it's not going away. Best you start to understand it's role in this market or else start looking for an HVAC repairman job...

Chris, that's great that you can step away from the screen. Maybe where you're at (Denver?) people are more balanced in their use of new media. I can tell you from extensive experience out here in Silly Valley that a great majority of folks DO NOT pull their noses out of their screens, no matter what cool stuff is happening around them.

Thanks for your concern regarding my employment status. I'm doing just fine w/o a twit-ter account or a facebook page, but thanks again for your concern. If you can convince Facilities groups at some of the various large corporations I've worked for out here to sort their HVAC so that I and my colleagues don't have to wear heavy sweaters on days that it's 85 degrees outside, that'd be great!

Have a great weekend, and in the immortal words of Father Guido Sarducci,

"Arrivaderci, Amercia!"