Neonomad

= refers, very generally, to people who take their work with them

([1])

URL = http://neo-nomad.net/

Description

Collated by Thomas Jankowski:

"The way it has been used thus far refers, very generally, to people who take their work with them. In America, this usually applies to the vast amount of web 2.0 startup execs and other self-employed tech workers roaming around in the Bay area. They are sometimes referred to as the Starbucks society, since that is the preferred meeting place of the neo-nomads.

Bill Thompson: "the neo-nomad mentality ... is the pattern of working life that defines a nomad, with no office, colleagues who are largely engaged with online and often a number of overlapping projects to be juggled and managed at the same time”. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6467395.stm)

Yasmine Abbas: "“digitally geared people on the move”. TJ: That’s even better in a way, since the focus has been shifted to the interface, the design, and the socio-cultural aspects of this novelty." ([2])

Discussion

Cruising along the virtual landscape while admiring the physical landscapes outside is becoming a unified and realistic experience.

Thomas Jankowski:

"What I would like to see is a further expansion of this definition that would focus on the mobility of a true nomad. Bedouins never felt at ease staying in one place for too long… neither do some of the neo-nomads. To be able to travel extensively and work while on the road would be ideal, but that is still difficult to accomplish these days. Wi-fi access is becoming almost common-place in the U.S. and Canada, but even in West Europe it is at best spotty, especially outside of the major commercial centres. The fact that there’s a multitude of incompatible wi-fi providers and oftentimes one needs to subscribe to a number of various services does not help. I once paid over $100 in one day for just under four hours of Internet use at four different airports. Traveling with more than one laptop because of proprietary security concerns or machine-assigned VPN accounts has also reduced my mobility at times.

Nonetheless, this too is starting to change. WiMax sounds promising as an alternative to other forms of broadband; so does the recently investigated idea of direct satellite access without having to route the signal through terrestrial stations. For now, GPRS and 3G networks offer ‘anytime/anywhere’ access in quite impressive remote places.

Finally, the ways to bypass the shortcomings of traditional security practices (without limiting their effectiveness), are starting to increase as well. Virtualization, using VMWare or Microsoft Virtual PC, is probably the easiest way of accomplishing this step. Almost any setup, be it a laptop, a desktop, or even a server, can be packaged into a virtual image and then redeployed on a machine of one’s choice without disrupting the host system. In effect, my protected company laptop can be made to run “inside” of my own laptop. Advanced IT skills are not required for this, nor is a high-end laptop. My $700 light Acer, with a memory upgrade to 2GB and a slightly faster hard drive can handle 3-4 virtual machines running on top of my usual interface.

Couple all of the above with user-provided wi-fi access points, a will to see some of this world, and some motivation, and the neo-nomads’ playground increases exponentially." ([3])

More Information

The Neo-nomad blog from Yasmine Abbas at http://neo-nomad.net/