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You UnPlugged


Kirk Horsted is probably horrified that I am blogging at this moment. You Unplugged is a discussion about unplugging and here I sit with a laptop on my lap listening to a discussion about the absurdity of you as a brand, cheating online, who owns your thoughts…

Horsted opened with the call to worship, “Join me in the open your PowerBook to the hymn titled What a Friend We Have in Facebook” We talked about the positives and negatives of being plugged in to social networks. We hashed out the abbreviations that mire our lives. Is reading in decline? Many hands went up when asked if people read less print. Don Ball discussed the consumer experience of the book store. Instapaper, Readability were suggested by Paul Carroll as tools to read online with less distraction.

Other questions:

Do gadgets save time or prevent us from getting things done?

Is family time broccoli and going online Coca-cola?

Is today a good time to judge what technology use is like or are we still in an experimental phase?

Why do we privilege online media? Maybe social networking is enough?

What happened to the handwritten note? Seems like a good way to stand out…

Is it the more screens the better? Is television interactive enough? Television as real time media during the election or sports… Watching the Twins, while ranting on a blog, and reading espn.com

What about vacation? How connected are you? I personally post photos during vacations. Kirk also tries to capture his experience –> but doesn’t research, chat with friends, do anything that hinders the experience. Writing also makes him more aware. He also responds to comments.

Do you cheat at online scrabble? Search for trivial answers while at a dinner party?

How do you encourage kids to unplug?

Kirk believes tweeting is for the birds. He’d rather see us unplug. He suggests we use 11 ways to avoid. Included: Minimize cell phone driving. No tech in the  bathroom. Intentionally leave your cell phone behind. Create digi-free zones- times, places… Separate work and home addresses

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October 10th, 2009
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
stublag
Posted on:
October 10, 2009 at 9:40 am

I was going to edit this post to include the URLs, but here there are: Readability & Instapaper.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
amysbryant
Posted on:
October 10, 2009 at 10:02 am

New Session Scheduled for 2:45-3:15pm – “Open Space Technology” Ever notice in typical conferences that the conversations during the coffee breaks are often more interesting than the actual sessions themselves? Come learn about a true “Un-conference” methodology.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Unplug! Seriously, just try it. | Confessions of a Former Political Junkie
Posted on:
October 11, 2009 at 9:27 am

[...] was a session at Unsummit yesterday about the value of “unplugging” yourself from your digital….  We need to do this.  Seriously, we need to do this.  Just try it.  Try it for 10 minutes.  [...]

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
BreakAway » Blog Archive » UnSummit Unplugged Incites No Riot
Posted on:
October 12, 2009 at 10:19 am

[...] to be moderate and mellow—with a good sense of concern and humor about their choices.   This lovely blogpost by UnSummit unorganizer Meg Canada tells all about it.  (Thanks, Meg!)     A 12-pack of questions   Though the session was [...]

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
kirk horsted
Posted on:
October 12, 2009 at 8:20 pm

Thanks for the great blogreview, oh Ms. Canada–and to the thoughtful friends who made the session such fun. What a treat to talk silence with such chatty, savvy folks, and to preach unplugging amidst cameras, flips and the tap-tap-tap of twittering. I see someone already posted my post-mortm. Man, you plugged-in people are quick!