Face to Face
Kathy Sierra has an interesting
post
about face-to-face communications and how we’re all going to die if we don’t
speak to people face to face. (Ok, it’s more positive than that.)
I agree with her post 100%, but with one caveat. As a software developer and IT
professional both, I have time and time again sat down at a computer across the
room and instant messaged things to the person I was having a face-to-face
conversation with, because face-to-face is TERRIBLE at conveying data
efficiently.
Professors use chalkboards, (or powerpoint, but that’s another rant),
advertisers use charts, and I’m pretty sure Tolkien couldn’t have told his
story better in person than in his books. There are many times when
face-to-face is woefully inadequate. As with all things in life, we need a
balance.
I also noticed that in her four-quadrant graph there was no telephone. Oh how
that makes me happy. I hate telephones.