hegemony rules

Continuous partial attention - how we use attention today. We're not really multi-tasking today. We're paying continuous partial attention - and it's really stressful.

Multi-task --> desire to be efficient (same priority to each task)

Continuous partial attention (CPA) --> we want to be an "on" node on the network. To be busy, to be connected is to be alive.

We pay CPA to not miss anything. With multitasking we want to be more efficient. This involves an "artificial sense of constant alertness." Scanning the periphery - we want to be live nodes on the network. This is pretty interesting stuff.

(Meta comment: I like that she's not using slides for her talk. This definitely forces us to actually pay attention to what she's saying, not be carried away.)

Stone mentions the 60s as being all about "me" - the center of gravity was "me." Many of the companies founded during that time were focused on personal productivity. 1965-1985 - valued creativity and personal expression above all else. If you're all about self-expression, you're likely to become narcissistic and lonely. What was missing was connection.

1985-2005 - we begin to value communication and networks. We play networked games.

Starbucks becomes a third place. We can "drink always on fuel" and distract ourselves with continuous partial attention activities. We're everywhere except where we are physically.

But now... people are opting out of SNS because it's a pain in the @ss. People don't want to work all night - and Stone has been consulting with companies to figuring out how to make this possible. Ironically, those who ushered in/developed e-mail, voice mail, etc. tend to not find the "off switch" on these communication devices, but Stone argues that those who grew up with these devices are really questioning these priorities.

We've created a sense of CONSTANT CRISIS, and Stone argues that we are responding to every possible e-mail, phone call, blog posting, etc. as though it's an emergency. She suggests that this is FUNDAMENTALLY different from multitasking. We become a great target for pharmaceuticals - because we're hyperalert and under chronic stress. We feel overwhelmed, overstimulated, and unfulfilled.

We celebrate powerful technologies, but we feel powerless.

She's arguing that we're now ready to evolve. We're beginning to want:

• protection
  
• meaningful connection
  
• protectors
  
• authenticity
  
• trusted voices
  
• things (ideas, lifestyles, brands, etc.) that resonate with our values

We want to SORT through the noise and find meaning. We wear iPods to gain space. We're beginning to make meaningful connections. Stone mentions the tribes/guilds that form in WOW and Liz Lawley's piece It Takes a Guild to Raise a Child. (Meta comment: Hmm. Not sure how I actually feel about that.)

We're gone from information workers, to knowlege workers, and now we can become wisdom workers.

Ease of use is not good enough. New mantra: "improves quality of life." She suggests that good design is at the heart of quality of life.