Sign of the times

The current trend in meetings seems to be that a bringing your laptop to the meeting is an absolute must. There is some sort of unspoken peer pressure of being modern, of having the latest tools available to make the meeting more effective. The reasoning must be something like this: The laptop has wireless so I can access all data I need during the meeting without having to prepare. No need to print of the meeting minutes, write down your thoughts before you go in... I can't help it but conclude that laptops in meetings are the new terror.

Here's what happened.

I went to a meeting an everyone opened their laptops. While I was presenting my topic, everyone was looking at their screens. There was no eye contact. This made the whole discussion awkward. I felt like I was talking to the deaf as everyone was minding their own business. This is modern alienation at its best. Video conferencing is actually better, at least people look into their webcams.

And if that wasn't bad enough, I peeked on the screen of my neighbour only to discover that he was using an instant message service to talk behind my back....

I think I give up, and start farming somewhere remote!