The problem here lies not with the laptops or with their use. It lies with the continued existence of such radically and absurdly inefficient and pointless tra

The problem here lies not with the laptops or with their use. It lies with the continued existence of such radically and absurdly inefficient and pointless traditions as 'lectures' and 'meetings'. They were started because physical co-location was necessary for knowledge transmission. Physical co-location is no longer necessary for, and indeed is severely hampering of, knowledge transmission. Anyone who proposes an in-person meeting is planning to abuse the frailties of human biology rather than meet with you honestly. They intend to use bluster and charm to convince you of ostensibly objective claims - and it will probably work. It usually does. That's one of the reasons they fight so hard to avoid being put on an actual even playing field where their ideas must stand or fall solely on their own merits.