People are more media-savvy today, but conference organizers say they need to stop and think about the effect that new technologies will have on their lives. Cars created the suburbs. Television made the world smaller. These are profound questions. They arouse passion and fear.
Most people fear change because they like where they are.
This is the fourth year of the conference, which was established by Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of the ethernet, and John Sculley, former chairman of Apple Computer. Sculley said the theme of this year's conference is in keeping with those of previous years. Sculley will moderate a session on personal isolation and connectedness that will include Megan Smith, the CEO of PlanetOut , and Mary Furlong, the founder of ThirdAge Media . John Perry Barlow, vice chairman of the Electronic Freedom Foundation , will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers will include Thomas Dolby Robertson of Beatnik .