One Long Conversation

On today’s edition of the BBC World Service’s Global Business, Peter Day gave a nice overview of personal area networks, telephony and the future of communications. In the show, Paul Saffo, mentioned that such services as Skype grew not out of regular telephone services, but instead instant messaging. So, the social norms for that medium apply. You aren’t intiating 6 or 7 conversations with a friend during the day; starting them with hello and then ending them with goodbye. Rather, it’s one long conversation. Despite the physical distance it’s more like talking with someone you share an office with, or popping into the office next door to yours. It’s the way that we’re using the technology that makes it new. It’s not just telephone over the Internet.