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Steven Pinker, professor, MIT; author, The Language Instinct
Many have fretted that the casual style of email, IM, and SMS will degrade the English language. I doubt it. When pay-by-the-word telegraphy was introduced, people omitted prepositions, articles auxiliaries, and more - and that didn't lead them to omit the words from their speech. Our teenagers may have to be taught not to use SMS abbreviations in term papers, just as they are taught not to use slang. But formal writing is a special register that children have always had to learn through feedback and instruction.
Anthony Townsend, COO, Cloud Networks; cofounder, NYCwireless
A lot of the random conversations people used to strike up while waiting in a public place are being replaced with mobile calls. Rather than try to chat with the stranger on the next bar stool, today's youth would rather pass the time talking to someone familiar via phone.
Jennifer Allanson, lecturer on interactive systems, Lancaster University
The deliberate and considered effort that used to go into establishing a link and sharing time with another human being is lost - you end up with lots of throwaway interactions. But I think the next generation of communications technologies will be able to detect and relay otherwise invisible physiological responses (touch, smell, eye movements, heart and brain signals, et cetera). This may afford us technology-enhanced interpersonal interactions unlike anything we have experienced thus far.
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I Want My TIA
How is the glut of communications devices affecting communication?
The Fight to Control Your Mind
The Secret War Machine
Profits of Doom
