I've never blogged about cartoons; however, the New Yorker cartoon on p.143 stands out for so many reasons. It depicts a woman pointing a gun at a man seated in front of his machine, saying "O.K., step away from the laptop and hold up your end of the conversation." This cartoon brings up many cases of computers disrupting communications. Here are a few:
In class, most MBA students have their laptops open (admittedly myself included). It's no coincidence that I can remember a lot more material from classes where the professor forbid laptops during class.
On phone conversations, I'll be on my computer and think I'm doing a good job of multi-tasking when I hear, "um... are you on the computer? ... is this a bad time?" Apparently I am not as good a multi-tasker as I had led myself to believe. My friends report that it's quite obvious because I lag considerably when answering questions and basically sound like an idiot because I miss the point of the converation at times.
Department meetings at work - many companies I've been with have implemented a strict no-laptop policy. Similar to no-laptop policy in classes, this keeps employees more focused on tasks at hand. There are many meetings where I've been a part of... and I have no idea why I'm there since it had nothing to do with me. With my laptop, I'd just do other work while sitting there and leave at the end with no issue. However, if I don't have a laptop with me... after an hour of listening to completely irrelevant banter, I am sure to talk to the meeting coordinator and question their reason for inviting me to this pointless (for me) meeting.
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4 comments:
Your comment is very interesting. I would agree with the "no laptop policy" in meetings too but I have to also consider the number of meetings I go to. If I did not multitask during these meetings I would need to stay longer at the office to finish my work and answer all my emails. When someone is expressing an idea for the 5th time during a meeting, I focus on my email and then when the discussion moves on then I listen. Doing this allows me to know what I need to know, participate when I need to participate and stay up to date with my emails. I agree that it is not the perfect solution but when so much is expected from employees, I don't see another way to get everything done. Many of my coworkers work during the evening or early morning but for me that's impossible since I also have to work on my homework for the MBA classes that I take.
Meetings...I believe it's the organizations' way of checking on the progress of the tasks at hand. Yet, some of these meetings do nothing more than recycle old news, perpetuate rumors, or highlight the inefficiency of the work that should be done. Many times these meetings are a way to remind people of the hierarchy in the organization; a theater where the head of the table makes orders you to do something in front of the group.
On the other hand it may also be a place where the group gets to offer up opinions and/or ideas to make the goals of the group more efficient. It definitely is a place where communication is the driving force.
I wouldn’t even dream of bringing a laptop into a meeting unless I was clearly taking notes. The temptation to surf the net and check emails during the times the conversation moves off topic is just too great. I also think that showing that you are giving your undivided attention to the speaker will have an underlying message that you care about what is being discussed. I know we are all busy and I too am guilty of bringing laptops to class and going online but I have recognized that in myself and now I take notes the old fashion way or use a video recorder. I find that the professors appreciate this gesture too and perceive me to be a better student this way. We are all fully grown mature adults and we really shouldn’t need to have the school faculty set rules and scold us over not paying attention in school.
During my first four years in undergraduate at Northwestern, laptops were not nearly as ubiquitous; they were seen more as luxury items that only a few students had. Plus, wireless internet was not yet present in most places, so even students who had laptops rarely bothered to carry them around.
When I returned five years later for my final quarter, I had my PowerBook with me, and the most valuable seat in the classroom was the one by the power outlets. I firmly believe my 4.0 that quarter was at least in part due to having my laptop with me in class - at last, I could read and understand my own notes, instead of trying to interpret my hieroglyphic handwriting scrawled next to bored doodling!
Upon arriving at SJSU, I brought my laptop with me to my classes - and was met with a lot of very strange looks from my professors and classmates when I brought it out. I soon discovered that the laptop culture wasn't quite as prevalent in the department, and, more to the point, staying behind the laptop wasn't quite as well suited to the give-and-take discourse of a graduate seminar as it was to the dutiful stenography exercise of a large undergraduate lecture class. I still bring my laptop with me to campus at all times - but it doesn't come out of my backpack nearly as often in class.
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