San Francisco, CA (AHN) - In the birthplace of electronics, a number of Silicon Valley businesses are banning laptops, Blackberrys, iPhones, mobile phones and similar devices from boardroom meetings.

The aim is to provide less distraction after some Valley executives and workers have complained of unproductive meetings and lackluster results because of participants' divided attention.

Linda Stone, a software executive, explained to Los Angeles Times it is not attention deficit, but continuous partial attention as the Silicon Valley worker wants to keep connected all the time. The paper quotes "Business Etiquette for Dummies" author Sue Fox, who wrote, "Face-to-face meetings have become a low priority because they're constantly being interrupted by technology, and many people can't figure out what to do."

Adaptive Path encouraged its staff to go "topless" or without a laptop during meetings. Other electronic devices are collected and kept in a box during the duration of the meeting.

Even some universities have prohibited wireless access in classrooms as some students were observed scanning the classifieds, going over stock quotes or emailing while in class.

Meanwhile, companies are working on connecting even more devices over a national wireless network. The system would link computers, television sets and cellphones.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, representatives of Comcast, Time Warner cable, Bright House Networks, Google, Intel Corporation, Sprint Nextel Corporation and Clearwire Corporation plan to invest up to $4 billion in a joint venture. Comcast, Google and Intel are reportedly provide $1 billion each, while Time Warner would offer $500 million and Bright House would invest between $100 million to $200 million.