A good article on meetings whether or not you agree with the use of laptops

All this focus on laptops as the problem is a red herring. Whether you're running a meeting with a rampant laptop problem or sitting in a meeting where you have no role, the actual problem is that someone doesn't understand the value of the meeting. No, it's actually worse. The problem is that everyone attending this laptop-laden clusterfuck is subconsciously hearing "Hey, in this meeting, it's A-OK to waste people's time."

The keeper is this quote:

A meeting must fight to exist. It must defend its existence to its attendees who should constantly be asking "Why are we here?"

If you attend meetings where you have no real role, definitely give the post a read.