I advance an argument about the value of collaboration in context over at November's The Message is the Medium:

"I have long advanced the view that real-time technology will be the motive force behind the next wave of collaboration, replacing the first generation of real-time communication tools -- principally instant messaging and web conferencing -- that have been structured as standalone applications. This structure has forced an out-of-context form of collaboration which has limited the productivity benefits that real-time collaboration offers.

Go read it!