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Continuous Partial Attention?
Jeff Kenton | Mar 30 2006
Hi everyone, I was reading the March 27 Newsweek, and Steven Levy's column caught my attention. In the article, he quotes a conference talk given my Linda Stone. Linda used to work at both Apple and Microsoft. She's concerned about a phenomenon called Continuous Partial Attention (CPA). This affliction (my word) involves trying to engage oneself in two worlds simultaneously. Levy also provides a metaphor: "A live Blackberry or even a switched-on mobile phone is an admission that your commitment to your current activity is as fickle as Renee Zellweger's wedding vows." (Ouch.) and: What can be done? Is it rude to assume that I can ask my conversation partner to unhook the bluetooth earbud when talking to me? Can I take away my meeting group's Blackberrys until the meeting is over? Does anyone have any strategies for dealing with this? 17 Comments
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 A weird thought... If...Submitted by aspearce on May 29, 2006 - 1:25pm.
jkenton wrote:
A weird thought... If Douglas Adams wrote Hitchhiker's Guide today, would Ford Prefect be called Blackberry Ipod? (I hope that isn't too much of an inside joke.) (insider responds) Since Ford Prefect's name was intended to make him inconspicuous on a planet which he assumed was ruled by automobiles the answer is no. He'd be called Honda Civic. :) We return you now to your regularly scheduled thread ... ... I suspect that the rude people always were rude and the technology is largely an enabling device. We all have free will. A lot of people know when technology is inappropriate, many of those choose to play (or be) dumb regardless. :) Merlin's post is an excellent example. The "wait I'm being an asshole" bell goes off in my head all the time. The question is how many of us answer to it? I don't nearly as often as I should. :eek: » POSTED IN:
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