Feb
2010
Communication isn’t dead. Its just constantly changing shape
I got a different train to work today which was much slower, after I finished my usual email, Facebook and Twitter trawl, I discovered I had watched everything on my itouch. So I found myself lifting my head and doing some people watching.
Its amazing how interesting it is and I realised how much I’ve missed it (although it is more fun doing it on a bar terrace with a glass of something cold and white). A couple of things really struck me
1) Not a single person had a paid for paper. Everyone was reading Metro. I wonder therefore what the peak time is for purchasing news papers as it certainly wasn’t that long ago that there was a much greater mix (including the freebies) on the morning commuter train
2) The vast majority had no newspaper at all. 70 per cent were reading either a blackberry or iphone (or something similar).
3) There was no chatter whatsoever: If they saw something they found interesting they’d nudge the person they were with, raise their chosen device and put the screen in front of them. Not a single noise would escape their lips. There was definite communication, but not the usual kind of conversation between 2 friends.
So what to make of this? Couple of lingering thoughts I was left with: When do people by newspapers nowadays?
And how communications and conversation can take all kinds of forms and still be understood
FWIW I was very thankful that there wasn’t a single loud mobile phone conversation. I’m sure there will be on the friday evening journey home!!
