How you use the net defines who and what you are
I spent a great July 4th holiday at the Hyatt Resort in Bonita Springs, on the gulf coast of Florida. Like many hotels and resorts, wireless access is pretty ubiquitous throughout the premises. This means that whether standing in the pool, relaxing on a lounge chair or hanging at the hotel bar, you can use your phone, tablet, laptop or any connected device just about anywhere. Connect just about anywhere they do. I didn’t realize that this would define such a difference in people though.
My friend Mark Adler was also at the Hyatt with his family. Mark is an investment advisor and bond broker (and a good one). He is not in the IT business but is far from a troglodyte. He has a Facebook account, uses SMS text messaging, uses his computer for work and has three small children who are all wired with all of the latest electronic gadgets. So I was very surprised when Mark said he didn’t understand why some people would come to a beautiful place like this “to stand in the pool and just text and Facebook instead of talking with people”. More than that, Mark thought it was actually pretty rude of people to isolate themselves this way.
I didn’t get his point. The idea of updating your status or tagging a picture at a hotel pool seemed pretty normal to me. Communicating with someone either in the hotel or half-way around the world via SMS was perfectly normal. I didn’t think it rude at all.
In trying to convey this to Mark, we went back and forth. Mark felt all of this virtual communication was a poor substitute to real eye-to-eye communication. He said he saw the same thing at a club recently. Instead of mingling with other people, some folks just sat on bar stools or chairs communicating via net with others who may not even be at the club. Mark thought this was a complete waste of time. They might as well stay home and chat with their friends online. What was the point of going out? Again, I disagreed. I think communication with others while out adds to the experience.
What it really comes down to is that there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who use the virtual, wired world only when they have to and those who live with one foot in the virtual and one foot in the real. You can say that it depends on age, but I am older than Mark and am much more wired. So age is not the only factor.
I have realized that there are two kinds of people – wired and un-wired for some time. But it was not until this week that I was made aware that the un-wired folks think it rude and wrong that the wired folks spend so much time being wired. It was almost a red and blue state thing, in that compromise and understanding of the others’ outlook were near impossible.
So what will happen over time? Will everyone just become wired and the people like my friend Mark disappear? Or will there always be a sizeable group of folks who refuse to let the virtual world rule their real worlds? Will this group think that the wired folks are disrespectful geeks? Will the wired folks think the “real worlders” are shallow and missing out on layers and layers of communication? It all seems like something out of a William Gibson novel.
What about you? What do you think? Do you think people who hang out in public places communicating via the web are wrong or rude? Do you think people who think that are just now with the program? Am interested in your thoughts.
