apple juice

This being my first time at a large, education and technology conference, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Honestly, I expected a lot of superfluous crap on the vendor floor, and I got that. It was disheartening to see scores of people milling around presentations for little clicker devices, rigid software, and tablet PCs (sorry I just don’t see it). I think those things may have a place, but they are certainly not the end-all, be-all fixes for all that ills.

My hopes, however, were also confirmed and enhanced. I believe the best technology is the technology that allows infinite possibilites, and endless options. Too often, I think, technology is viewed as a way to enforce that everyone do everything the same way. The best sessions and presentations I saw were the polar opposite. The future, I believe, will be in unlocking the individual’s creativity and voice. Allowing for interpretation in a way that suits each person.

So, from the sessions on podcasting, blogs, wikis, and storytelling, I felt that excitement. Tools that allow the individual’s voice to shine. I did see one new commercial product I was very enamoured with: InspireData. It looks to be a great data collection and analysis tool, and it seems to be crafted in a way that allows great flexibility in the interpretation and presentation of data.

The other wonderful thing about the past few days has been the turbo-overdrive web browsing I’ve been doing. I’ve come across a bunch of new websites, tools, and ideas. (This post is being written and posted with Qumana, a free, open-source, and cross-platform blog editing tool.(which needs a Window menu, I just noticed))

So now, a couple days off, I’m going to watch some soccer, visit some family, and gear up for iSummit 2006.

Tags: necc, necc2006, necc06, qumana, inspiredata, iSummit2006