Can we "C" the light ? (it's a trick)

By now you might be getting sick of my sophomoric sense of humor. If so - I apologize (and continue).

I'm going to add another couple of "C"s to the current "C" theme of Communications, Context, and Closeness: namely the "C"s of Cost and Convenience. Before you get too carried away in concerns over this blog being awash in a sea of Cs, perhaps I should point out that this discussion could be construed as adding only the Cost "C-word" to the lexicon, except for the fact that the English language makes a distinction between the two that might be useful. Both Cost and Convenience are faces on the same coin - "Cost" often refers to the impact on the provider of a capability, where "Convenience" exemplifies the lack of cost for the consumer of the service.

So about now you should be slipping gently into slumberville. Before you leave, please consider this...

A great deal of money in telecommunications is invested in reducing / optimizing just these two attributes of communications. The industry investment in VoIP is a classic example. Where SIP could have been used first and foremost to enrich the communications experience, it has been blindly used to reduce cost. Untold millions have been spent on technology replacement initiatives where the focus has been on providing like-for-like replacement of existing voice systems. If we want to look to why the industry is struggling, I'd suggest that the focus on Cost reduction, rather than the creation of new fundamental value is one of the driving factors.

Similarly, even where cost reduction is not the primary focus, a great deal of effort is centered on reducing barriers to use (for example Skype highlights directory numbers on web pages to make it easier to place calls, and thus encourage us to Skype them). This equates to increasing Convenience, and, although not bad in of itself, it blinds us to more powerful opportunities.

So what is the plea, dear reader? My encouragement to the telecoms industry is to move beyond the barren waters of Cost and Convenience, into the Cs of increasing value for an evolving world. Invest in Context and Closeness.

and the implication is...

Share context with those with whom you communicate, and thus chose how and when to communicate in order to do so, and... Choose to find and communicate with those with whom you share context, whether you "know them" or not.

'taint "Location", 'tis CONTEXT

One of the fundamentals of interpersonal conversation is context: all of that shared information that frames and informs the conversation.

In this context, "Context" (sorry, I could not resist) is a big bucket of stuff. It includes shared history (do you remember when...), shared environment (oh! Look!), shared information (or the lack of shared information, and the reason that other person is not sharing), shared dreams and goals, and likely a large number of items that don't fit in the above list. In a meta sort of way it includes personal assumptions about what is shared and not shared, and what the interpretation of that sharing is.

Context also explicitly includes those things that are not shared. What feelings and thoughts are not part of the public domain surrounding the communication? In an interpersonal context this boils down to "what do they really mean?"

So enough context - where does this belong in a blog about telecommunications?

There are two thoughts circling my head that apply here. The first is that the context very seldom fits on the wire, and if it does, there are significant concerns with how well the context is delivered with integrity. The goal of telecommunicators is not yet done.

The other circling thought has to do with the nature of social media. I assert that the essential activity managing context is the sub-text of social media; the network of connectedness and the way in which it is executed, is all about establishing and sharing context. Following tweets of friends is not communication - it is preparing the context for future interpersonal communication. Reading and writing on walls is preparing the ground: investing in context, and understanding and sharing in the context of others.

Perhaps this can be harnessed in improving the effectiveness of machine-intermediated-communications. Or perhaps the true context for all this is simply a dream.

And to close the loop: Location IS context, just not ALL the context.