Will Zoom Survive?

 In case we all revert to life as in February 2020, what will happen to Zoom and Teams? There may be occasional use by some, and a regular use by a few, but the bulk of users may forget the online and move on to the face to face paradigm again.

By the way, even at the start of the online/WFH movement, whatever happened to Skype? Did it morph into Teams, or is it dead and gone? It was too complicated for most, I thought.

So maybe the lesson-another one- is that the better designed service will win. Zoom over Skype and Gmail over Yahoo earlier, are cases in point.

Halfway Mark at Covid Lockdown and the Future After

I think it was a bold and necessary step to lock down India -a vast country- for a period of three weeks. U.S.A. has not been able to bring itself to do that, nor the U.K. until recently.

The next step/s will also be critical. To isolate areas or cities with a large population (or even a significant small population) of likely spreaders, and current hot spots. If this is done well, and it may mean a spurt in detected cases- a good thing in the short run during lockdown- we may be able to prevent a larger disaster. The hot spots may need a further bunch of restrictions over a longer period, in my own view.

Either home delivery of groceries and medicines, or keeping small stores open with distancing being practiced will of course be required, and can be geared up once areas are identified that need it for longer periods. Migrant labour camps will also need to gear up and provide food and/or a kitchen and groceries.

Domestic flights except for the hotspots can be started at first, and then all domestic flights, in phases. International flights should be restricted to those who have a family emergency and can prove it..otherwise they can wait for a couple of months. Big congregations including malls, theatres will in my view, have to remain shut for a few more weeks. If not, gains made will be frittered away.

Sensible planning (and behaviour) may still carry the day. Let us hope so!

Life in the Next Century

Obviously, not mine..this is 2091 and beyond, not 2019..

You come into this world. Your Mom takes a selfie with you (and Dad if he is around), and sends it up simultaneously on all media- before anyone can ask her What's Up, it's on WhatsApp.

You sign up a few friends on Instagram before you leave the hospital- could be other kids born nearby. You go home, and meet relatives- via Skype, of course, and they send you flying kisses. Less scope for infections, you see..all for the good.

You get an online application for Kindergarten, High School, IIT and IIM, all at the same time, and fill them up with the help of your 10 year-old sibling. Also, a passport application, just in case..

You play with friends, all possible games online, and go to school-also online. You download directly into your brain all the content shared by teachers, and then write exams by Thought Reader- the teacher can directly read your thoughts by scanning your brain.

You date people by going to restaurants in the Second Life, and imagining you ate/drank. You give a rating to your date, and she/he does the same to you.

You choose one of these eventually, and live happily ever after- she/he in their home, and you in yours.

How does this sound for Utopia?

Worrisome Worries

Ok, I am getting philosophical. But natural, one would say, coz I am a Doctor of Philosophy.

But I am serious. We worry too much, and don't listen to the song "Don't worry, be happy" enough.

We worry about the future, when the present calls out and says, "I am here."

We worry about what we don't have (and possibly, the neighbours do have), forgetting that we do have a lot.

We worry about the world, which seems to have taken care of itself since we were born. And probably will do so after we die..

We worry about the potholes, and the jackasses who drive like crazy.

We worry about things we have no control over, and discuss them to death. Such as, "Who will win the IPL?"

We'd be better off worrying less, and doing (or not doing) more.

What a Workplace Should Strive For

We all know what makes you successful, and what you as an employee should bring to the table (the job-you may have a table or not). This is about what the workplace should think about. And do, hopefully.

Dignity of labour is in my view, number one for a human in any job. He or she must be treated with dignity, and not as a robotic or mechanical cog in the wheel. The latter is beautifully demonstrated by Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times.

Show him a reasonable future in terms of what he can do to progress to a level above his current one. This need not be in terms of just salary, but a good mix of work where he gets to use his skills best.

Anything that fosters an element of camaraderie among his team-mates will create an atmosphere where he wants to come back every day.

Autonomy to the extent possible, is crucial for many. In my view, this is what brings people into teaching, particularly to autonomous institutions which also provide autonomy to its faculty and staff. An empowered employee usually does far better work than a hyper-controlled one.

This is apart from practical solutions to his/her problems, such as transport, or a creche for young mothers to be able to work.

A Book about Books

I am now halfway into "This is not the end of the Book", a conversation between two authors, one of whom is Umberto Eco. I am not familiar with the other, a French writer. But they have a freewheeling conversation about the future of the book. That's what the book is about. Ain't it a novel idea?

Early into the conversation, one of them pokes fun at a futurologist who made a few stupid predictions at a Davos gathering, pointing out that futurology is a dicey business, and the only thing known about it is that it will be a surprise-that's why it is the FUTURE, and not something else.

Anyway, the context of their discussion is ways of preserving learning, history, culture through books, scrolls, digital media, film, etc. They convincingly argue that we have already lost a lot of stuff, such as the work of some excellent Greek playwrights, because someone thought them unworthy of preservation in libraries. This kind of filtered reality of cultures and realities past is all that we will get.

They also persuasively argue that storage media formats keep changing so fast that it is confusing to learn for individuals and institutions, as to which media to use for the long haul- we have had CD ROMs, VCDs and DVDs in a short span of time. They seem relatively unworried about the e-book taking over the normal book, within limits of unpredictability, of course. Many more insights on various things are peppered into the book of conversations. A great read. I have found Umberto Eco an original thinker, though I have only read two or three of his books/essays. Hope to read some more. An aside is that both these gentlemen own something like 30-40,000 books.