I've seen a race of electronically linked humanoids who share information in a vast decentralized net to which they all have access; who see data as a kind of neutral atmosphere, like air; who use technology to share thoughts and impressions at all times; who are never out of contact with one another; and who react to the briefest removal from their shared consciousness with an itchy, frantic eagerness (cf. "Hugh") to get back.
P. Ziegler, K. Dittrich, and E. Hunt. Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE 24th International Conference on Data Engineering Workshop, page 250--253. Washington, DC, USA, IEEE Computer Society, (2008)
J. Bennedssen, and M. Caspersen. Proceedings of the Fourth international Workshop on Computing Education Research, page 15--26. New York, NY, USA, ACM, (2008)