If you've been following any of the technology or social software bloggers you probably have seen quite a few posts about O'Reilly's Emerging Technology (Etech) conference held this week in San Diego at the Westin Horton Plaza. Part of me wanted to attend this conference while another part spoke to me: "you're too travelled and conferenced out, Allan." So I opted for a quick shuffle in and a quick shuffle out.

Why? Mostly, I wanted to spend some offline time with fellow blogger, professor, librarian and friend Liz Lawley. I also figured I check out the vibe of the conference and get a little taste of the dynamic of the crowd that I suspected would gather in the hotel lobby. Perhaps I'd bump into some of my fellow bloggers like Joi, Doc, Kevin or others.

I walked into the lobby of the Westin and there was no question to me or anyone who walked through the doors that there was "technology going on." The first image I caught was a man in his 30's slouched in a lobby chair, feet on the coffee table in front of him with his Apple PowerBook perched on his thighs. He was eagerly pecking away at his keyboard. I stopped. Blatantly. Stared. And walked on. Didn't notice me.

Next I sauntered into the lobby bar. It was a few minutes before six and several sessions were still in progress, yet all of the tables were occupied by small groups. There were several seats open at the bar. At the opposite end of the bar sat an attractive women in her late twenties. She was flanked by two gentlemen and in front of her open and glaring was her Titanium PowerBook. I spun in my stool and glanced over the room. I saw Dan Gillmor at a table of 4 or 5 people with at least one or two of them with their heads buried into laptop computers. In the corner was a heavyset man sitting in the middle of a sofa, alone with huge headphones on his head and his laptop reflecting and glowing in his eyeglasses. Marc Canter zoomed in, scanned the room and quickly exited. I counted the Apples: totaled 5, 4 PowerBooks and an iBook. I counted the nondescripts: 4. That's 9 computers in a lounge that sat about 20-25 people. All but the man with the headphones were sitting in groups.

Feeling alienated from a glowing LCD screen I grabbed my new Sony Ericsson P900, poked and pecked at the screen with the stylus and eagerly checked my SMS, MMS and e-mail messages. Geeeeeeeeez. Even the bartender seemed afraid to communicate. Was the vibe and power consumption of emerging technology enhancing or disrupting communication in the lobby?