My family seems to have been fairly accepting of and adopting new technologies. Both my wife and I followed technology-related careers. Our children seem fairly comfortable with these things. My father was an engineer and the two generations before him, as the industrial revolution took hold, became involved in the toy business (which in my view shares many of the same characteristics).
Like many families we have various appliances that automate many household processes: dishwashing, clothes cleaning, cooking, cleaning, heating, cooling, etc. The pandemic, especially more recently, has elevated the role and importance of communications technologies.
Since Christmas I have found the isolation becoming more burdensome. I’m not sure if the colder weather, making is less comfortable to go outside, has been the tipping point or may be it’s just the accumulation of nearly a year of not being able to meet with friends and family. What’s App, FaceTime and Zoom have become more prevalent in our lives. We have twice-daily FaceTime calls with our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, and at least weekly calls with other family members. It turns out sharing a glass of wine remotely isn’t all that bad; it’s better than not.
Our club has replaced in-person meetings, with virtual ones through Zoom. Similarly, conferences previously on-site are now also offered through Zoom.
In a way, it’s like the difference between reading a book and reading “on screen”. The physical contact is missing and that, it turns out, is really important and difficult to replicate.
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