The same thing is happening in communication technology. Most of us are stumbling
along in a kind of pidgin version of it, squinting myopically at things the
size of fridges on our desks, not quite understanding where email goes, and
cursing at the beeps of mobile phones. Our children, however, are doing something
completely different. Risto Linturi, research fellow of the Helsinki Telephone
Corporation, quoted in Wired magazine, describes the extraordinary behaviour
kids in the streets of Helsinki, all carrying cellphones with messaging capabilities.
They are not exchanging important business information, they’re just chattering,
staying in touch. "We are herd animals," he says. "These kids
are connected to their herd – they always know where it’s moving." Pervasive
wireless communication, he believes will "bring us back to behaviour patterns
that were natural to us and destroy behaviour patterns that were brought about
by the limitations of technology."