Stephen Downes

I remember Derrick de Kerckhove talking about urban screens - "interactive, dynamic digital information displays in urban environments" - a few years ago at a conference in Edmonton. It was one of those gee-whiz presedntations full of hope but with no discernable impact. But I'm not surprised to see the concept emerge again; it's too alluring to let go. But I think urban screens should be more personal. I have proposed repeatedly that we try something like that at NRC - ambient wall-screens connecting offices between cities (after all, we're on CA*Net 4, so we have the bandwidth). Because the idea is to connect people, not cities (and certainly not propaganda). Much more on urban screens in this month's issue of First Monday.