matt jones | work & thoughts | Constant, partial, sorry what were you saying? is a characteristically pertinent comment by Matt Jones on the relationship between the problem of "absent presence" (a symptom of our always on, information overloaded condition) and designing for meaning:

"I think it's fantastic that journalists, bloggers, technologists and hackers are starting to pay more attention to sociologists, ethnographers and other theorists on the human condition and technology's effects. However, research and analysis takes you only so far - synthesis means design. It would be a shame if designers couldn't benefit from this recent, reinvigorated dialogue, as I think the other parties would definitely benefit by including them."

Matt's point, if I understand it correctly, is that rather than responding to the issue of absent presence by simply turning off inputs (e.g. rationing email weblog reading time), user experience designers should also seek to ensure that we can easily, intuitively focus on what we need/want to focus on: "Great design creates meaning from information".