It has taken me awhile to digest all the input from Reboot 11, but I wanted to share at least a few brief thoughts and impressions. (I’ll try to follow up with some more substance, but won’t promise anything.) So here’s a more or less random list of some things that struck me as particularly noteworthy.
There was a RepRap printing 3D stuff, which always feels to me like watching the future. (Note: One piece on one of the two RepRaps broke during transport and the guys managed to print a replacement. How awesome is that?) There were mini lounge chairs. There were great talks. We had great dinner at BioMio and a fun afterparty, too. There was even a wifi bike. (Did I mention spectacular weather?)
David Weinberger, who I always love to see talk, spoke about the web being a morally charged tool, and about optimism:
Bruce Sterling talked about the challenges of the next decade, not acting like we (as a generation) were dead, why we shouldn’t try to beat our dead great-grand dads, and why it’s so important to get a decent bed & chair & other stuff we spend much time with. Sounds weird? Rather inspiring, really, because he nailed quite a lot of things. That’s something you get a lot at Reboot: Inspiration from unexpected places and areas of thought. Here’s Bruce Sterling in a post-talk interview:
To sum it up: It was a great bunch of people there and I think we all took home a lot of new brain food, and met a few new friends. Thanks to all of you, and particularly of course the orga team and Thomas for putting it all together.
