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Linda Stone, Continuous Partial Attention

Continuous Partial Attention

Linda Stone

Linda Stone (b. 1955), who spent over fifteen years working at Apple and Microsoft, is featured in the book The Digerati (1996), where she is described as a high-tech visionary. Today, she is a speaker and consultant on innovation, IT trends, and humans’ relationship with technology. She has published articles in various newspapers and magazines — from the New York Times and the Boston Globe to the Economist and the Harvard Business Review. In this video interview, Stone describes the concept of continuous partial attention.

Before you read, consider your own relationship with technology: Do you regularly multitask? Do you feel naked without your smartphone, tablet, or computer?
As you read, think about how (or whether) the concept of continuous partial attention applies to your own life or the lives of your friends of family.

Source: SIME Conference. “Linda Stone on Continuous Partial Attention.” SIME 2009. SIME 2009, 30 May 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YCSBEhPVA0

Transcript

Reading for Meaning

READING SUMMARY

Question 5.1

Watch "Continuous Partial Attention" and write a sentence or two explaining what Linda Stone means by continuous partial attention and why she thinks it is important.

Below is an example summary of this reading selection:Linda Stone explains what she calls continuous partial attention, a phenomenon caused by the stimuli that surround us that makes it possible for us to connect and respond continuously to those stimuli but not to engage fully with the world around us. She argues that this phenomenon diminishes our quality of life and encourages us to seek products and services that will improve our quality of life by reducing continuous partial attention.Your summary will differ from this one in the way it is written, but it should include roughly the same information.

Reading Like a Writer: Explaining Using Appropriate Strategies

On the Web, writers can explain concepts not just with text, but also with visuals, audio, video clips, and interactive features. For example, Stone explains her concept through words, but the video also conveys something about continuous partial attention (and its opposite) through interspersed video of the behavior of attendees at the SIME conference where Stone was speaking.

Write a paragraph analyzing how the video uses explanatory strategies — both verbal and visual — to explain the concept of continuous partial attention:

Replay the brief video, but instead of watching it this time, close your eyes and listen to Stone’s words. What strategies does she use to explain her concept? What strategies does she use to explain what she considers its opposite?

Question 5.2

Now replay the video a third time, and watch it closely. How do the camera techniques (quick cuts, pans of conference attendees, close-ups of Stone’s face or hands) help explain or depict the concept?