CLONMEL HOTSPOT -- Joi Ito cites Edward Hall in Beyond Culture to describe the difference between P-time and M-time.
Monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time) represent two variant solutions to the use of both time and space as organizing frames for activities. Space is included because the two systems (time and space) are funtionally interrelated. M-time emphasises schedules, segmentation and promptness. P-time systems are characterized by several things happening at once.
Joi slipped into IRC, then reduced his e-mail reading, throttled back on structured work BUT he is "having a much better sense of what's going on in our 'space' (since he is) able to tie a bunch of pieces together that weren't tied together before." I think there is a hazard of becoming mired into contextual multi-tasking, to the detrimental of real-world tactile involvement. Nonetheless, I am watching how Joi evolves, because in the early 90s, I swam in the CompuServe Education Forum as a section leader, unable to get much done whenever I kept my chat sessions running.
Edward Hall -- Beyond Culture
Joi Ito -- "Going P-Time" with Trackback.
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