In your previous mail you wrote:
>Including the people showing slides; at least
>with printed acetate technology you don't have people stopping to
>answer their Instant Messages.
=> I believe you are right for this point (banish power point! :-)
bit not for others.
Many have been the meetings where folks who want to actively
participate in that meeting are unable to get in or unable to sit down.
Not uncommonly this is because of folks who are clearly playing
video games or otherwise doing sundry other laptop computing -- rather
than paying attention to the meeting they are sitting in.
=> very good argument Ran! (and many games don't need the network)
The challenge is that some folks clearly do use the wireless
LAN to download I-Ds to review precise text during the meeting
discussing that particular I-D (in lieu of carrying paper around,
I suppose), or for other good purposes. Legislating either way
on this seems unconstructive.
=> I agree: the weight of all likely interesting I-Ds is too large.
In my little old laptop, near the whole ordinary free room is filled
with IETF mailing list (discussion history), RFCs and drafts.
Another proof: the success of the special "all RFCs and I-Ds CD-ROM"
(cf http://www.normos.org).
Another point: there are many communications between participants
in the same room. I believe we should encourage this because this is
better than to talk directly to a neighbor (noise reduction).
So maybe I'll settle for a general plea to folks attending
IETF meetings. If one isn't going to actively participate in a given
meeting, then please move out of that meeting room into the hallway
or some other venue so that folks interested in that particular
meeting have an unencumbered ability to participate.
=> the critical resource seems to be power so if nice places (bars :-)
are well equiped I believe we'll get what you suggest.
Regards
Francis(_dot_)Dupont(_at_)enst-bretagne(_dot_)fr