This isn't directly related to any specific technology. It isn't about VoIP or WiFi. It isn't about unified communications or social media. It's really about the evolution of technology and how it's impacting our world and our daily lives.

There's a great series of articles over on The Economist. The best place to start is with Nomads at last. To get the full impact, you really have to follow to the next article, then the next and the next. It's a series. Here's a taste:

AT THE Nomad Café in Oakland, California, Tia Katrina Canlas, a law student at the nearby university in Berkeley, places her double Americano next to her mobile phone and iPod, opens her MacBook laptop computer and logs on to the café's wireless internet connection to study for her class on the legal treatment of sexual orientation. She is a regular here but doesn't usually bring cash, so her credit-card statement reads "Nomad, Nomad, Nomad, Nomad". That says it all, she thinks. Permanently connected, she communicates by text, photo, video or voice throughout the day with her friends and family, and does her "work stuff" at the same time. She roams around town, but often alights at oases that cater to nomads.
[Read the Economist article]

The precept is that many of us are becoming technology nomads, carrying less and less with us in our daily travels because we know where the oasis (of WiFI rather than water) is. While that base concept quickly led me to thinking about WiFi in the early days when we went warchalking to makr where the hotspots were, most of the series is very much on target.

The second article is about the joys and drawbacks of being able to work from anywhere. Speaking as someone who started telecommuting in about 1986 and has spent 40 weeks a year on the road, I really appreciated the balance this piece presented.

Continuing in the series, the third piece is one that could provoke a lot of thought around how our nomadic ways will change buildings, cities and traffic. I think I could spend hours talking and thinking about that issue because how we use offices and physical space is certainly undergoing change.

The fourth article talks about how people, friends and family use current tools differently. As half of a truly hyper-connected couple with Sheryl, this is an area we're both really fascinated by.

The series goes on, but you get the point. I encourage everyone who uses current technology to go start at the beginning and read what interests you.

The subject was also part of this morning's Squawkbox podcast conference call. If you're a Facebook user, you can listen to the recording of that here. It will also likely be part of the conversation on the Idea Incubators weekly call that Sheryl and I host through Facebook here this evening. Both are lively conference calls and open to anyone. Jump into the conversation.




Technorati Tags: mobile computing, wireless, nomadic computing, mobility