There comes a point where technology can replace face to face interaction but whether or not it should comes into play. With the advent of Tablet PCs and other devices which allow digital signatures to be used over paper, we’re already there with many financial transactions (Best Buy, anyone?), but what about one to many events like autograph signings.

Author John Scalzi writes of his experience autographing books electronically using the LongPen:

I had fun with it—it’s cool to fiddle with new technology and see how people respond to it, and I did my best on my end to be personable and chatty so that the folks whose books I was signing would feel like it was an overall positive experience. Now, given a choice between this and actually being where fans are, I’d prefer to be there live, personally; I think there’s value in being there, and I think people would prefer an author signing in their presence as opposed to via an Internet connection.

How big a part of the draw of getting an autograph doing it in person? For me, the memory and experience of the face to face meeting is more important than the signature itself, but maybe I’m in the minority. I know from a tangible financial value standpoint, my memory isn’t as valuable as the signature itself to others, but we all place our own value on memories.

I see a day where most business meetings will happen through videoconferencing and deals are signed through the computer — I’m sure in some businesses that’s already happening today — but despite the technology being available today a lot of people prefer face to face meetings. Some captive insurance agents from companies like State Farm and Allstate were concerned about the internet taking their business in the late nineties, but by and large that hasn’t happened yet. People seem to prefer if they are paying for an agent to deal with the agency in person. Relationships with the level of personal and confidential information being shared seem to be something more people are comfortable with offline.

Smiling at somebody through a videocamera isn’t the same as shaking somebody’s hand and smiling at them in person. I don’t think it ever will be, so technology may not have limits, but actual usage of that technology will.

Speaking of the Tablet PC, I spilled some beer on it yesterday afternoon. Good thing it wasn’t plugged in and it wasn’t a significant amount of spillage over the unit. Mostly spilled on the glass desk which needed to be cleaned anyway. As I think about it now, there was actually more beer spilled than drank, so it wasn’t spillage on the account of beer buzz, it was due to sausage hands.

I yanked the battery out right away as well. The tablet has been christened now. A Budweiser-scented Tablet PC, nice.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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