From the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, surrounded by young geeks and their shiny toys. I notice few are taking notes on the session we’re attending. They are quietly: checking email, playing games, building web pages, consulting reference material, text messaging, taking pictures with cell phones–everything but paying attention to the speaker. I get up and leave out of chilliness and boredom. I wasn’t learning anything, and I have nothing to play with but my analog notebook and pen, and my legacy brain.

I head for the press room where a compatriot sympathizes with my wonderment at why the geeks come if they aren’t going to pay attention? He offers: imagine how the speaker must feel, gazing out at all those bored audience members. Folks, there’s some disconnect here, and I’m not getting it. In search of more stimulation, I wander out to the reception area to find Ben Hammersley, an English journalist who lives in Italy and is wearing, in San Diego, a plain green twill kilt. “Why?” I asked. He snickered self-consciously and confessed, “It’s comfortable”. Also goes well with combat boots.

I decide it’s time for me to trot down the street to the public trolley, which will ferry me back to my car. Just outside the hotel entrance is an excited crowd surrounding a couple of cars. Aha! It’s the show and tell part of the session on how to hack sci-fi features into your car. Who would have thought that’s what gets the geeks interested?

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