Keith Moore wrote: ...
actually I haven't attended an IETF meeting in the past several years
where I didn't get the impression that we'd be much more effective
at getting work done _without_ wireless access. large rooms that are
full of people sitting down typing on laptops and not paying attention
to what is being said are not conducive to getting work done - even
among the people who are paying attention. it further exacerbates the
phenomenon where meetings consist of highly scripted presentations rather than discussion time. most people don't pay attention to the presentations because the information content is so low, so they use
their laptops to keep them occupied.
if we could get rid of wireless and powerpoint, we'd be much better off.
Personal opinion: disagree. Wireless is immensely useful to grab a document, check something on another SDO's web site, and - yes - for instant messaging (e.g. "we need you in here right now"). And some people simply have to multitask in order to be able to attend IETF meetings in the first place. The jabber scribing has become very important for remote participants - this time we even had one Area Director who was partcipating actively by jabber (and audio streaming). The wireless glitches that interrupted jabber were a real problem this time.
As for presentations, the fact that they vary in quality can't be blamed on PPT. It should be blamed on the presenters, perhaps.
Brian
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