Smart Mobs Can Be Scary Too
by chromaticNetwork Newsletter for 03/18/2003
Dear Readers,
In his book, "Smart Mobs," Howard Rheingold says, "The people who make up smart mobs cooperate in ways never before possible because they carry devices that possess both communication and computing capabilities. Their mobile devices connect them with other information devices in the environment as well as with other people's telephones."
This creates an electronic version of the collective unconsciousness that is connected by mobile devices. But as with many new technologies, there are looming downsides too, such as individuals not always having control over their role in the overall society, or mob.
Rheingold alludes to this darker side in a recent interview on OpenP2P.com where he comments, "The mobile Internet is not going to be the Internet as we've known it or the mobile telephone as we've known it. Like the PC and the Internet, it will emerge with its own characteristics and its own strengths and weaknesses, which will benefit some and not others. The most important of these is the potential for collective action."
Rheingold will be discussing both negative and positive aspects of smart mobs at the upcoming Emerging Technology Conference. One of the themes of his talk has to do with social responsibility, especially in the technical community.
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"I want to encourage the people who are creating the technologies to think more comprehensively about what we know of the social impacts and importance of those technologies, and what the political conflicts are about them. They certainly are aware of a lot of the political issues, but it's important for people who create technology to know the whole context of collective action."
If you're curious about smart mobs and the mobile Internet, take a look at Richard Koman's interview of Howard Rheingold, titled, "The Next Revolution: Smart Mobs." If you like what you read, you might want to meet Howard in person at the upcoming Emerging Technology Conference this April in Santa Clara, Calif.
Until next week,
Derrick
Derrick Story
O'Reilly Network Technical Editor
derrick@oreilly.com
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