The one geek conference I wish I had gone for fun is Where.
The media writes stories with the Who, What, When, Where, Why and sometimes How formula. Great framing for any story. O'Reilly first did How which was the first question of the net, driven by some Whos. Most of the alpha geeks already went through WWWWH to figure out the net.
We spent 1995-2000 trying to figure out the What of the net. What are we building and how do we make the mooh-la.
We spent 2000-2005 figuring out the Who. The Who really tripped us out -- all that data, about me, connected to others, privacy invasions and a lot of yadda yadda.
From 2005 to 2010 we will be trying to comprehend the Where. Every new mobile device will transmit coordinates, every location device will be sensor aware. If you thought the public would freak out about the public knowing who they are -- imagine the social awkwardness of where you are. Yeah, much of it is mundane. Home. Cubicle. Home. But you won't be able to get off the grid. Anywhere.
From 2010 to 2015, Where will compound When. But about then Neuroceuticals kick in and we are so productive and have augmented memory to the point where real timeshifting occurs.
After 2015 Why is the big question. John Battelle joked that that's the show he wants to run (no better guy). After that it's all dolphins, lazer beams and transcendental singularities.
