Trendsurfing: Information saturation (The Times)
By David Rowan
I know, I know, here’s yet another text-filled column for you to skim distractedly as you simultaneously text friends, check e-mails and download a couple of podcasts. Don’t think we sulky newspaper types haven’t spotted you lavishing your attentions elsewhere in this information-saturated age. All we ever asked for was a committed one-to-one relationship in which you’d listen to us, concentrate for a minute or two, and only then dismiss us as ill-informed semi-literate hacks. Bet you haven’t even read this far, what with everything from BlackBerries to blogs rudely interrupting.
But how is this digital flood changing the way we process information? A decade after the internet began to swamp us with data, some useful ideas are now whizzing through its nodes to help us understand the challenges we face. Permanently connected to an endless supply of electronic devices, we are learning how to dilute our concentration and so cope with the pressures of endless multitasking. Yet this dependency is increasingly leaving us overwhelmed, unfulfilled and constantly distracted – hence the tendency among BlackBerry users to call the devices "CrackBerries". That means... er, sorry, just had to send a couple of e-mails, where was I?
As with any addiction, the first step in reasserting control is to define the nature of the dependency. In the always-on society, when we are permanently anxious about missing out, we can forget how to prioritise. According to a term currently gaining ground, this state is one of continuous partial attention or CPA. Coined nine years ago by a former Microsoft executive named Linda Stone, CPA may reassure us that busyness keeps us connected and important, but it does not necessarily help us to get jobs done or to concentrate. It can also leave us stressed, overstimulated and feeling constantly in crisis. So what can we do about it?
A couple of possible solutions have come from some of the tech world’s more influential strategists. One involves simply refusing to play by the rules, reverting instead to monotasking – originally a computing word for an operating system that could run just one program at a time, but now more widely used to signify a refusal to succumb to the electronic smog. In some companies this can mean switching off e-mail for one day a week, also known as a data fast. Another strategy involves a disciplined system of time management called GTD, short for Getting Things Done. Based on a bestselling management book by David Allen, its premise – in essence, make lists and do the doable straight away – has given GTD a semi-cult-like status among geeks in particular.
Yet not all interests are served by encouraging a greater clarity of thinking in an information-saturated age. Mobile-phone companies, for a start, are rather pleased that we have learnt to accept that there are no longer simple Yes/No answers to our questions. That is why, if you try to find the cheapest tariff for your phone, your network will swamp you with so much data that you find the task impossible – a practice known among economists as confusion pricing. After all, who has the time to calculate savings from off-peak-bundle contracts compared with carry-over minutes? You could, of course, just give up your mobile entirely. Think how much more time that would give you to read The Times Magazine.
(The Times Magazine, April 29 2006)
I know, I know, here’s yet another text-filled column for you to skim distractedly as you simultaneously text friends, check e-mails and download a couple of podcasts. Don’t think we sulky newspaper types haven’t spotted you lavishing your attentions elsewhere in this information-saturated age. All we ever asked for was a committed one-to-one relationship in which you’d listen to us, concentrate for a minute or two, and only then dismiss us as ill-informed semi-literate hacks. Bet you haven’t even read this far, what with everything from BlackBerries to blogs rudely interrupting.
But how is this digital flood changing the way we process information? A decade after the internet began to swamp us with data, some useful ideas are now whizzing through its nodes to help us understand the challenges we face. Permanently connected to an endless supply of electronic devices, we are learning how to dilute our concentration and so cope with the pressures of endless multitasking. Yet this dependency is increasingly leaving us overwhelmed, unfulfilled and constantly distracted – hence the tendency among BlackBerry users to call the devices "CrackBerries". That means... er, sorry, just had to send a couple of e-mails, where was I?
As with any addiction, the first step in reasserting control is to define the nature of the dependency. In the always-on society, when we are permanently anxious about missing out, we can forget how to prioritise. According to a term currently gaining ground, this state is one of continuous partial attention or CPA. Coined nine years ago by a former Microsoft executive named Linda Stone, CPA may reassure us that busyness keeps us connected and important, but it does not necessarily help us to get jobs done or to concentrate. It can also leave us stressed, overstimulated and feeling constantly in crisis. So what can we do about it?
A couple of possible solutions have come from some of the tech world’s more influential strategists. One involves simply refusing to play by the rules, reverting instead to monotasking – originally a computing word for an operating system that could run just one program at a time, but now more widely used to signify a refusal to succumb to the electronic smog. In some companies this can mean switching off e-mail for one day a week, also known as a data fast. Another strategy involves a disciplined system of time management called GTD, short for Getting Things Done. Based on a bestselling management book by David Allen, its premise – in essence, make lists and do the doable straight away – has given GTD a semi-cult-like status among geeks in particular.
Yet not all interests are served by encouraging a greater clarity of thinking in an information-saturated age. Mobile-phone companies, for a start, are rather pleased that we have learnt to accept that there are no longer simple Yes/No answers to our questions. That is why, if you try to find the cheapest tariff for your phone, your network will swamp you with so much data that you find the task impossible – a practice known among economists as confusion pricing. After all, who has the time to calculate savings from off-peak-bundle contracts compared with carry-over minutes? You could, of course, just give up your mobile entirely. Think how much more time that would give you to read The Times Magazine.
(The Times Magazine, April 29 2006)
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