Spanning the Globe: Using the Web for Time Travel
by , June 19th, 2008 ,Tags: "Interconnected Age", Skype
Posted in change, web 2.0 |
Today, at 9:00 AM EDT, I achieved an important milestone in human history. I traveled through time.
I started my day at 9 am on Thursday by having a phone meeting with someone at 4 pm on Friday. We met for about 45 minutes, reviewed a couple websites together, and agreed to schedule another conversation in a couple weeks. At the end of the meeting, it was 9:45 am on Thursday.
This isn’t a joke. I really did it and I have to give all the credit to the Internet. Let me provide a little more detail to help you understand what happened.
About a week ago, I exchanged emails with Curt Kenoyer, who works for the Qatar Foundation at their Education City in Dohar, Qatar in the Middle East. We agreed to meet at 9 AM EDT today. When Curt called me at the appointed time (using Skype, the internet phone service), it was actually 4pm local time at his office.
[The bold vision the Qatar government has forged to create a truly unique center of learning where the East and West come together is truly remarkable. I encourage you to learn more about them.]
During a couple points in our conversation, I sent him email links to relevant websites to demonstrate a few concepts. Instead of having to describe them, he could instantaneously view them with his own eyes. (See them for yourself here: Tamarindo Touring Company and Butler University Vodcast Series).
As we said our good-byes, Curt relished the fact that he had a one-day head start on me with the weekend. I did point out the he had a “head start” on the work week, too.
To celebrate this great accomplishment, I fixed myself some toast and then started a three-way phone meeting with Bryan Gray, our CEO, who was in downtown Indianapolis, and a person in Athens, Georgia. From Qatar to Indy to Athens and back to Indy.
Not bad for just one morning. The only thing I missed out on was the frequent flier mileage.
Tags: "Interconnected Age", Skype