Doesn't it seem ironic that people fear that we might become alienated by communicating with each other through computers, when we are already staring at these boxes in our living rooms for seven or eight hours a day, slack-jawed and saying nothing to anyone on either side and not talking back to it.
Howard RheingoldEverything is removed. You're actually doing something dangerous when you get in your car, when you're getting on an airplane, or having sex.
Howard RheingoldIt's kind of astonishing that people trust strangers because of words they write on computer screens.
Howard RheingoldI'm somebody who seems to stumble into things 10 or 20 years before the rest of the world does.
Howard RheingoldEvery big company has some little guy who is an enthusiast off in the corner working on technology. In Japan, it is integrated into their high-level strategy. They see it as a communication medium, because for them, just the wordsโ - โand this is the problem that they have with Americansโ - โjust the words they say to you is not the complete message. Their facial expressions, their body language, there is a lot of context. Also, their written language doesn't translate to keyboards well.
Howard Rheingold