Smile--You're Always On Camera

Last week, I got a glimpse of the future--and even captured a couple of minutes of it on video. It happened during the opening dinner of a three-day powwow on media and entertainment. The event glittered with executives and political wonks: Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke; so did Google's Eric Schmidt and Yahoo chief Terry Semel. Even more memorable than the speakers, however, were the scores of guests holding up little white boxes, about the size of a BlackBerry, videotaping the event. Each dinner guest had been given a "Flip" video camcorder--and instantly put it to use.