[akg]

In general I agree with the premise that talks are more about conveying a vision, illicit emotion, and are prone to mob reactions. However, I wonder how much of that is changing due to the fact that most talks are now available to view online. Once you can view talks at your own leisure, you can spend more time thinking about the speaker's points (via seeking and pausing) and you are also not susceptible to the reactions of those around you.

I wonder how much the availability of talks in this way affects their content. I would think that talks are moving more in the direction of writing since the speakers words can be heard and thought about without external influences -- which in turn can be used to generate new ideas.

[shahan]

> However, I wonder how much of that is changing due to the fact that most talks are now available to view online.

Interesting point. If ideas, arguments, and claims in video and audio can be visualized more effectively, that might change things even more.