Blackberrys in Parliament?
Posted by Tom Fuller in Blindside project, Humanity nature and activity, culture at October 29th, 2007
“MPs are set to be allowed to bring BlackBerrys into the House of Commons after rebel members failed in an attempt to prevent their use despite three-and-a-half hours of debate last week.”
I sort of overly-ostentatiously turn off my mobile devices when I walk into a meeting–ostentatiously because I hope the courtesy will be reciprocated. It rarely is. I personally think that they’re making a mistake here, and should check their kit at the door, like Mad Max entering Bartertown. I sort of want my MP paying attention to what’s happening on the floor.
Curious that this debate is occurring at the end of 2007, though.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
I want my MP paying attention - but I also want him *there*. We’ve seen at many, many conferences over the last ten years that people stay in the conference hall listening to the speakers a lot more if they don’t have to leave to go somewhere to log on to check their email, etc. Studies suggest, of course, that people are never as good at multitasking as they think they are, but we’re not talking about MPs hunched over their laptops eshopping; we’re talking about making it possible for them to stay connected to the outside world. If anything, they might be able to concentrate better if they’re not sitting there worrying that they’re missing an important call.
wg